World Warzone
by Pretzhog
Summary: Left in the middle of chaos, Gus Pretztail is taken in by the E-N-D, an underground army of rebellious fighters who wish to see peace return.
1. PROLOGUE:  Beginning of the END

-1**VIVA PINATA**

**WORLD WARZONE**

**(By: Tobias Pretzhog)**

**PROLOGUE - Beginning of the END**

"So what's your story?" a stunted, male cocoadile asked me quizzically as his facial expression stood still as stone.

"Well…" I scratched at the small earbud that was stuck in my ear earlier. It was the only thing allowing us to communicate clearly, and wearing that alone made me feel awkward. "There's not that much to tell…" I sighed, realizing someone from a meager place where I lived really didn't _have_ a story to share.

"Oh come on, pretztail," he urged me, "I doubt your story can be as dull as my mug," the cocoadile poked fun at himself.

"Er, Okay…" I don't believe I caught the piñata's name the first time it was mentioned, I decided to attempt at guessing it, "Weh…,Wi-"

"The name's Will," Will corrected me, "but that's not important- Go on…Er" his sight aimed at the sky for a certain word to say.

"Hm?" I hummed while contemplating what he was going to say next.

"Your name!" He blurted out.

"My name?" I said as he nodded, "I… I don't believe I have a real name… Everyone calls me Pretztail," I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"That won't do, you need a REAL name," Will suggested.

"Huh?" My eye's shot open. A name wasn't a big deal to me, but it was a shocker to hear someone give a crap about it.

"You know what I'm talking about!" The cocoadile exclaimed, "you need to be called something less generic."

"But-" I was cut off…

"No buts! You need a decent name! Besides, Pretztail can refer to ANY pretztail here!" he gave out a good reason.

"Um… Well then what name do you think suits me?" I pointed to myself.

"Hmm…" Will took a few seconds to think, "… Gustavus seems just fine," he nodded approving his own suggestion.

"_Gus-taa-vis_," I tried emulating the name slowly, it sounded nothing like how Will had put it.

"Gus for short then," he summed it up, "you can remember that right?" His face still sat idly.

"Sure, _Gus _it is then," It felt awkward, but it was a name of my own I guess.

"Now that that's taken care of, tell me more about the life of Gus," I imagined his mental ears perking up right at this moment.

"Okay… Well, I come from Remtrii," I said, expecting him not to understand since his appearance wasn't as of the scar covered citizens of Remtrii. Instead Will nodded as I continued, "it's nothing flashy, I mean it doesn't even hold a torch to this place…" I gawked at the metal plating in the room.

"So you're from the slums…" The cocoadile assumed.

"The slums? What's that?" I never heard anything like it. Still, Will's face remained unchanged as he went on.

"A garbage dump to be perfectly honest, If you're not from here you either live in the wilderness or the slums," he explained as he stretched his body out in a tiredly fashion.

"I wouldn't put it that badly, but how did you know I lived in such conditions?" I questioned in awe of his good perception skills.

"Many reasons, the biggest being you possess your own language, or 'slum speak' as I would like to call it. Another is you come from someplace that has a _name_," Will chuckled, however his face didn't look so happy.

"I… I see," I felt stupid for not realizing that earlier.

"Do you have any friends back in… _rim-tree_?" He took a shot at pronouncing my town, almost nailing it.

"…No, but I do talk to other piñatas occasionally," I shrugged my shoulders.

"You still look young… What about your parents?" Will pointed out.

"Parents? …I… I can't remember having any…" I admitted.

"Well that's no good, how'd you survive?" Will crossed his arms as he studied further into my eyes.

"Scavenging, though unlike most, I scavenged around alone," I most likely implicated myself as a 'lone mallowolf' to the cocoadile.

It wasn't my style, but I just couldn't bring myself to really open up to anyone. However the only reason I'm talking to Will here is because I don't have any other choice. You see, I haven't made this clear yet but… Going outside means certain death, not outside the door mind you! I mean _outside_ outside. And what lies out there is unlike anything I've ever seen in my life.

"Really? It's hard to imagine you're telling me the truth," Will uncrossed his arms, I knew he wasn't going to take me seriously anymore, but that's alright.

"You don't have to believe me, I'm just telling you what you wanted to hear in the first place," I stated.

"True…" he didn't argue, "anyways, I think it's time you met the crew," Will stood to his feet, "come on, I'll introduce you," He motioned me to follow him out.

"All-…Alright then," I said, not having much of a choice. Will navigated through the hallway as I trailed behind him. The steel floor was icy cold on my bare feet, making me want to request some shoes… or socks at the least. However I kept silent as we both happened upon four piñata's gathered around a table discussing matters that concerned the outside turmoil.

"Hey guys, I finally talked with Gus here," Will halted in front of me, nearly causing me to trip over him if I was careless enough.

"Oh, so that's his name," A gray fudgehog looked up from the table he was standing at and set his gaze on me. His visage held a cold vibe, however I read his eyes, they appeared to be friendly.

Reading piñatas is second nature to me. Since I never hung around anyone in Remtrii, I spied on others. Reading body language and language in general. After studying it for so long I incorporated it and attempted to predict the actions of others. Such as what they would do in certain situations, Eventually with some determination, I was able to know some of the locals without even getting knowing them personally.

"Sure is," Will nodded as the fudgehog approached me.

"My name's Phil, I'm the guy in charge here. It's glad you have you on board here…Gus," Phil greeted me as he shook my paw with his.

"On board? For what?" I looked to Will for an answer, there was something I was clearly not informed about. Will fumbled around with his paws nervously, however his face didn't show it. He had a poker face alright, but his body gave him away.

"You didn't tell him?" Phil scowled at the cocoadile.

"Well, I've told so many before…" Will began to defend himself, "they ran back to the outside in fear. They don't want to fight, so they just take their chances and just run…" I listened in.

So they want me to fight? I'll admit, what I saw outside nearly scared the mache off of me. But I know by the looks of it already, I wouldn't last a second out there if I ran now. I'm sure this place and the piñatas here would offer me the best protection possible.

"Fine then, I'll be the one to ask," Phil shoved the short cocoadile aside, nearly knocking him down as he shot me a question, "would you be willing to serve in our fight against this war?"

The way he put it made it sound so contradictory… _fight AGAINST this WAR_. Weren't wars supposed to be fought? Not fought against?… Then there's really only room for surrender. But I guess that doesn't matter now.

"Sure, why not?" I agreed, shrugging my shoulders as if it was no big deal. But I knew there was much, much more to come. Might as well enjoy what ever little peace I have left here.

"Excellent," Phil patted me on the shoulder and scooted me forward slightly towards the rest of the group near the table. He pointed to the yellowish pieena who was standing at the leftmost of the group. "That's Ryan," he whispered as if he didn't want anyone else to hear, "He pretty much handles the file managements of this base."

His finger followed the next in line, a female mallowolf who looked more ornery than Phil did, and actually had the eyes to match it. "That'd be Kayla, she handles the communications, but do yourself a favor and stay out of her way whenever possible, she's got quite a temper on her," I nodded and took dire note of it.

"Thanks for the tip," I murmured back, not taking my eyes off the mallowolf.

Phil then pointed at the yellow fudgehog, who had the other two piñata's full attention. "And the fudgehog right there, he's Evan, my younger brother," I listened in to what Evan was saying, some of his words didn't register in the translator, but I did pick out something about a weapon that'll stop the aforementioned war.

But what was the war all about anyways? That was the real issue for me to figure out. I would have asked Phil, but he was still going on.

"… Don't let his appearance fool you, he's the brains behind this whole base," I could tell Phil really enjoyed bragging his brother up.

"Yeah, he seems really intelligent," Phil nodded at my comment, "…Why isn't he the leader?" This was what made Phil laugh, but he caught himself, not wanting to draw any attention.

"Well there's some things even Evan can't do, and one of them's how to take charge," The fudgehog clarified, drawing me back to the hallway for some privacy.

"Ohh, make sense," I replied, trying harder to pick out Evan's flaws, but none had shown in the mere moments that pasted.

"Hey Phil!" Evan call out to his brother, "we need you to hear this too if you haven't forgotten!" Phil patted me on the back one last time before leaving me to myself.

"Make yourself at home soldier," He departed towards his allies, leaving me to myself. I noticed right off the bat Will was missing, So I really was alone. The recent solitude reminded me of home, not that I was homesick or anything, but because I missed just having time to myself. Heading back towards the room I was in previously, I realized this would be a great opportunity to mentally map the place out. This was my new home after all, might as well know the place inside and out.

"…You sure that's safe?" I heard Phil say to Evan. His speech made my translator squeal a bit. Futzing around with it in my ear, I've come to acknowledge that I'll have to learn their language soon to avoid this disability. That or the echoing of their native babble paired up with the words I've learned will drive me nuts, it'd be best to start studying what they say now for my sake.

"Completely! However this is still in the early stages, give me some time and I'll have the final product all worked out," Evan said as I strode past them making my way to the stairs.

"This may be our shot at ending this shitstorm for good," I heard Phil comment as I trailed down the flight stairs.

"Well they're at least getting somewhere…" I muttered to myself as I finished the stairs, only to find myself in an area that seemed like a place of relaxation, there were a few piñata's tapping dense balls around in an indented table using narrow sticks. I never seen a table be used in that style in Remtrii before, but I didn't stay and gawk as I moved closer to what was a wooden table ledge that protruded from the wall. There was a large opening on the other side slightly above the ledge where I pinpointed the scent of food being cooked. The table ledge was complemented with some stools for piñatas to sit and gossip at as well as obtain drinks.

The slurping of liquid through plastic straws made my stomach growl and my throat dry. I was thirsty and could use something to moisten my lips. The problem was getting one, because I bet they wanted something of value for just one glass. However I spotted Will sitting on one of the stools and luckily the seat next to him was open, maybe he'd tell me how to get one.

"Hi Will," I got his attention as I propped myself on the tall seat, I bet he had trouble getting himself onto one he was sitting on.

"Oh, hey Gus," The emotion was still gone from his face, which led me to the conclusion he must suffer from some sort of face paralysis, because no one can keep their face still for so long.

"So what are you drinking?" I chose to beat around the bush for now.

"Just some lemon iced tea," he spun the contents inside the glass around as he spoke of it, but lemon iced _tea_ was something I never heard of, "I wasn't around to hear the rest, but have you decided on whether you're gonna fight or not?" Will asked.

"Yeah, I'm gonna help you guys," I nodded, however I changed the subject as the dryness in my throat urged me to change the topic, "anyways, do you know what it takes to get a drink here?" I cleared my throat out.

"Hm?" He gave me the same dull face, but I knew by response alone that he didn't get the question.

"You know, what do I have to give to receive a drink?" I restated my question.

"Barter and currency mean nothing here anymore young Gus," Will had sprung in a hearty laugh, but it seemed so unfitting that his face didn't match it. So I tired to pretend that I didn't notice, however I wasn't doing so well as my eyes scanned his face ten times over.

"So…" I tried to get my mind back on the subject, "I just ask and I can get a drink… Free?" Something like this was unimaginable back in Remtrii, thus I relied on my natural scavenging habits. And I do admit I did succumb to committing petty thefts when I was really in need.

"That's how it works here, don't be afraid, the machine here doesn't bite," Will gave me some advice. But what was he talking about by 'machine'?

"How may I serve you sir?" I heard an artificial voice call from the other side of the opening.

"Um," I turned around to realized I was being greeted by a fizzlybear android who stood on the other side.

Robots in general were talked about in many fictional stories in Remtrii. I never thought these beings could exist, however my eyes proved that I was wrong all along.

"How may I serve you sir" it repeated again in the same monotonous tone.

"Ju-Just water please," I wasn't indecisive, I knew water would probably be a safe choice considering the strange variety they had like _lemon iced tea_… Whatever that was.

"Coming right up, sir," the robot departed, swiftly coming back with a glass filled with the most purest, crystal clear water I've seen in years… Something like this was one of the highest delicacies in Remtrii. I hate to admit it, but Remtrii wasn't the most cleanliness of places and so most of the water would be tainted, and drinking it would be risky. I had been forced on several occasions to drink the polluted stuff just to keep myself going, however I'd try to purify it the best ways I could before downing it.

My mouth was salivating rapidly as I gazed at the sparkling water, I didn't even realize what Will even said to me earlier. However, I had to control myself, I didn't want to show Will, or anybody else, that I was just some savage. Plucking out the straw, I placed it on the table and began drinking the water right from the glass. The taste was sensational, I couldn't believe this place and it's luxuries so far, and there was still so much more left for me to see.

"I see you're enjoying your drink there Gus," I had opened my eyes to see that I was swallowing nothing but air now. My cheeks flushed a bit as I set the glass back down.

"I'm sorry, it's just I never had anything like it…" My paw was still on the glass.

"I understand, not everyone is graced with nice things," Will took another sip of his iced _tea_. "…Still thirsty? You can help yourself to another if you want," Will offered, however I refused, not wanting to be gluttonous. "Eh, alright then, more for me," Will laughed with his stone cold face remaining in it's place. My seat popped me up in the air a few inches as I could sense a huge vibrating motion traveling through the earth and the building.

"…What was that?" I asked hesitantly as soon as the room settled. My eyes were widened, though it was expected that Will would remain unfazed from the event.

"An air strike, don't worry, they don't hit often," he informed me.

"Y-You sure? That sounded pretty strong," I cringed, remembering the ungodly noise of it all.

"This base is equipped with the best walls E-N-D could forge," Will knocked on the wooden table to show emphasis.

"E…N-D?" I felt out of place reciting it, "what's that?" My curiosity got the best of me.

"That would be us, dear Gus, all of us: Everyone one of us in this base. And every base like this one scattered around the land," he bobbed his head in approval and admiration.

"But what do you-… We do then?" I dug up more questions.

"Our purpose is to stop the war and to sustain peace, which would explain our name- Enders of Notorious Destruction, if this isn't enough for you, I don't know how the hell I'm gonna explain it," I could weed out his sarcasm in the end.

"I get it, I get it," I said, waving his sarcastic remark away.

"Good, you would have driven me insane otherwise," the cocoadile laughed and took another sip of his drink.

"Heh heh…" Uneasiness set in, as if he told me a joke I didn't get and he was the only one laughing.

"Anyways, you have a lot to learn- And piles and piles of crap heading your way, you better be ready for the days to come," Will downed what was left in his glass and hopped out of his seat. "Anyways, I'm going to bed, I'll talk to you tomorrow Gus," he waved to me as he departed.

"See ya…" I returned the gesture and watched him enter what I assumed was his room, I almost had the urge to follow, almost.

I wasn't a social butterfly, I was far from it, but Will however… Something drew me more to Will. Probably because he treated me more like a person than some stranger. Plus he joked about things, even though I didn't get most of them.

I decided to blow off some time by means of exploration. Leaving my empty glass unattended, I left the stool and decided to enter the nearest room to my person… Which happened to be the kitchen as far as I could tell. I was instantly shooed out by an angry female fudgehog before I could even get a good look at the place. I traveled next door and tried it, though to my surprise it was locked. I put my ear up to the door and I could hear screaming, then everything was pretty much silent. I could hear faint commands, as if some sort of surgery was underway.

I've gotten a few strange looks from onlookers who were enjoying their peace lounging on the couch. I didn't want to attract more attention so I left hoping they wouldn't continue to watch me. I went down to the next door and attempted to open it as well, but I was let down again as this one needed identification to enter, which I probably have yet to receive.

On the verge of giving up and returning to my bed, I spotted more stairs that go to a lower floor. Still unable to control my inquisitiveness, I had let myself wander downstairs, that is until I was stopped by a giant screen that seemed to drop down from the ceiling and face me personally.

"Where do you thing you're going?" Kayla's face appeared on screen, looking more ticked off than before.

"Kayla," I heard a voice from the distance call her from the monitor, "what are you doing? We need you for this discussion y'know,"

"Oh just hold on a minute!" Kayla yelled back, looking at the piñata who had the balls to interrupt her. I took a step back in fear, as if she could breathe fire through the screen and end my life in an instant. She returned her glare back at me and immediately I froze stiff.

"That's right, keep movin'!" Kayla barked at me as I finally found the strength to retreat. I didn't dare look back to see if she was still watching me, or if the screen came off its hinges to chase after me. Stopping at the first set of stairs I took, I knew that irritable mallowolf would be up there. So instead of taking my chances of her catching sight of me again, I decided to wait it out back at the bar, besides… I don't think another glass of water could hurt me.

I chuckled to myself as I sat myself on one of the stools. As the android approached me again I requested the same thing and was prompted with the glass water only moments after. I thanked the robot and began gulping down my drink, or straining myself to sip it. It was good, but I wanted such a delightful taste to last unlike the last time.

"Hey, you're pretty cute," I heard a perky voice call from behind. I assumed it was for me, but I dared not to turn around. "What's your name?" the question really narrowed it down that it WAS for me. "_I'm the new guy… So it's obvious pretty much no one knows my name here_…"

"I'm… Gus," I said, turning around to find my eyes only a foot away from a stunning pink pretztail's, whose age appeared not far from my own.

"I like that name," she commented with a smile, "my name's Tess," she took a seat next to me without my approval, not that I had minded or anything.

"Nice to meet you Tess," I didn't offer out my paw yet, because I still have yet to know if I could trust her or not.

"So where did you come from?" She asked… Seems like a lot of piñatas would like to know where I came from, but I guess that's natural to some.

"…Remtrii," I also expected her not to understand as her mache was flawless in comparison to mine which was missing patches in some areas.

"Oh! …Interesting, what's it like there?" She shot another question at me.

"Not nearly as great as it is here," I came to realize as I took another drink of water.

"So there's war where you're from?" This question had caught me off guard, I had completely forgot about the outside world above us.

"No, not at all, just poverty, and a lot of it," I shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"Seems like somewhere I'd rather be right now if there's no war there…" She gazed dreamily into the distance.

"Well where are you from," I decided to turn the tables with the popular question. Instantly her attention was mine again.

"Oh me? I was born and raised here. However both of my parents left for a mission… And never came back," her eyes left mine for the floor, "I've never heard from them since, and it's been almost a year now," I wish I could sympathize, but honestly I couldn't relate to the issue at all.

"I'm sorry…" Was all that came out of my mouth.

"Thanks," she looked back at me with forced smile, "I try not to think about them much," I realized it was my fault for picking at old scars.

"I shouldn't have said anything, I'm really sorry," I apologized again.

"It's not your fault, you deserve to know," the bartender android asked for Tess' order, but she shunned him away instantly, shortly returning to the conversation, "What about you… You were brought here by the dark-spawn if I heard correctly." _Dark-spawn…_ Sounded so foreign to me, I wanted to ask about it, but I had decided to wait, "what were you forced to leave behind as they took you away?" She asked as I took another sip of water.

"Nh…Nothing," I felt cold for saying it, but it was the truth.

"Nothing! What about friends or family? Wha-" I had to cut her off before she began getting loud.

"Look, I don't have either… I ended up fighting for my own survival," I added, putting a paw on her shoulder to calm her down.

"All…Alright…" I could tell she was speechless as I retracted my paw.

"You don't have to feel sorry for me, what has happened, happened, and I'm here now, still in one piece," I directed her attention to the brighter side of things.

"Yeah… But with the conditions we're under, who knows how long that'll last," the outside world came to mind again.

"At least here, I get clean water," I displayed my glass, now half filled of water, to her.

"Again, who knows how last, we could have our water tanks sabotaged at any moment," she scowled as if I were being cocky about the whole dilemma. I knew the outside was bad, but what I heard from Will, this place seemed impenetrable.

"But I thought-" I started but Tess refused to let me finished.

"Forget what you know! You haven't seen the destruction like I and many others have!" She was steaming with fury from my ignorance right now, "They probably told you some lie, 'that it's all gonna be okay,' 'that we're all gonna be safe,' well wake up call! We're up against something that has us in the palm of its hand if we don't take the right precautions, if we don't watch our backs each night we're kept up to stay on guard duty… You, you just don't know…" She stomped off in a huff of rage as everyone else, including me, were stunned in silence. I quickly scanned the others who were around, their eyes were either trained on me or Tess, who was shortly out of sight.

Eventually conversations slowly struck up again and I kept to myself as usual. My chest ached with the pain of guilt… It was a rare pain to me, but still hurt nonetheless. My intentions weren't to make her mad, just to put her edginess at ease. Somehow I ended up fueling her fire with my words…

"Don't worry… She's like that from time to time," I heard Will's voice talking from behind me, though I could easily tell he was lying. I turned to spot him already taken Tess' spot, but this time he had nothing to drink with him.

"Did she wake you up?" I asked, more concerned about Will than his statement.

"Yeah, unfortunately," he laughed lightly to himself before going on, "she has a better chance of waking me up than the bombers do," we both ended up laughing. However I had no idea what _bombers_ were, but if I had to guess, I would assume it was the thing that cause the air strikes that Will told me of earlier.

"Heh… I still feel bad about what I did though," I admitted to the cocoadile.

"Don't be, I said she gets like this from time to time," his lying act was a little better concealed this time around, but I had already knew.

"Alright…" I shrugged my emotions away for now, "they still talking upstairs?"

"Phil and the gang?" Will questioned.

"Yeah, just wondering," I hid behind that, I was tired, but not desperate enough to sneak by Kayla to get to my own bed.

"Probably, ever since Evan made a discovery with one of his new inventions, they've been talking non-stop," Will yawned from being further deprived of his sleep.

"You should go off to bed Will," I said, knowing it's not good to stay up past what you're normally used to.

"I should… Here's hoping she doesn't wake me up again," I winced at the words, knowing I should stay away from Tess… Incase my presence alone sets her off on another rant.

"Good night," I waved Will off, however I didn't think he heard me… Or wanted to hear me, though I didn't take it as an insult. I mean, I'd be generally ticked off at myself for doing the same thing as well if I was trying to sleep. Well I can only hope that moods will settle by tomorrow.

I decided to take my chances and climb the stairs to the main room. During my climb, I've come to realize that I've made a crappy first impression so far with nearly everyone I've met… If this keeps up, who knows what might happen. Maybe they'll kick me out, and then I'll be back at square one…Only this time it'll be ten times as worse.

As I made the last stair, the only piñata I could spot out in the room was Evan, who was very much busy with his work. I guess that meant everyone else was on break or sleeping. Not wanting to disturb Evan from assembling what could be another lifesaving contraption, I tiptoed back to the beds.

"Hm?" I subconsciously hummed as I heard faint sobbing come from the bunk room, "looks like I might not be getting some sleep then," I mumbled as the cries grew louder once I reached the doorway. Peeking inside, I saw that it was Tess who was the one behind all the crying. After I found that out, I couldn't find the strength to even enter as the guilt found it's place back inside my chest.

"Way to go…" I sarcastically cheered to myself. It was crazy… I never felt so bad about anything before, so why now? Was it because I actually got to know her a bit? I couldn't think with my emotions raging through my mind along with Tess' cries. Both made me want to breakdown myself and eventually I had myself a silent cry, plopped down against the wall away from the bunk room.

"W-what are you so upset about?" I heard Tess' voice and realized I had zoned out into my own sadness.

"…" I looked back up to Tess, wiping my tears away incase she didn't see them, but I knew it was already too late, "I… I didn't mean to make you cry," I said, deciding it was useless to hide my tears anymore.

"…It's not your fault," Tess sat next to me, "I just envy you… You reminded me of Benji… Er,,, Benjamin," she corrected herself.

"…How?" I sniffed the snot back up my nose as my voice began to sound nasally.

"Well, you both came here having nothing to lose… It's something I wish I had… But I can never pull myself away from the things I've come to know and love," she let out a miserable sigh.

"Oh… I, understand," I couldn't think of what else to say.

"No you don't!" I could tell she really wanted to raise her voice again, but she did a good job to restrain her frustration.

"Then tell me so I can!" I almost stepped down to her level of anger as well.

"Benji was arrogant and careless, knowing he had nothing to lose, he'd throw his life away and dedicate everything into putting a stop to the war," I nodded, acknowledging what she had explained. "Of course I never thought the worse would ever happen back then too, but now I know better…" she fell silent.

"What happened to him," I dreaded to say.

"He… Was caught off guard by a landmine… The only reason I know about it is because his partner came back to tell the story," I could tell she didn't want to return to her sadness again as she strained to keep her emotions inside. I guess this _Benji_ sounded like me to an extent, but I wouldn't be going into the outside thinking I could take on the world, that's just TOO arrogant, even for me. I was only acting the way I was because I was surrounded by protection, I could afford to say what I said, or at least that's what I believe.

"A mine eh…" I recalled the object. There were a few of them re-rigged in my lifetime in Remtrii, I got to see a few of them in action from idiotic piñatas who didn't even bother to look at they were placing their feet. I mean the mine was right there in plain view!

"Yes, there was nothing left of him… Not a thing of him to be sent back to us," She snorted, trying not to let her snot run down her nose.

"I… Don't know what to say," this time I announced it to her.

"It's alright, you don't need to say anything, just know that no matter where you are, you're never safe," she warned me as I stood up, feeling bad that I was about to leave her.

"Okay…" I nodded heading into the bunk room to get some rest.

"Good night Gus," she said with a broken smile. I knew she was somewhat happy though that she got her point across.

"…I'll see you in the morning," I waved as I crawled into my bed, turning out the lamp that was next to my bed.

Time seemed to fly by as I had just sat their idly in the darkness. I couldn't sleep in something like this, at least not right away. The bed was too soft for my tastes. I'm used to spending my nights on firm piles of cardboard, covered up with pelts of the deceased, and the comfort of the streetlights to keep my company. It was just too dark to trust any of my surroundings, and each random noise had my mache stand on end. However there was what seemed like a conversation spoken in gibberish taking place just down the hall that grasped my attention the most.

"_My translator_!" I sought for it all over my bed, assuming it must have fell out when I was tossing and turning. Soon enough, I found it and put it in. I winced as I heard the hiss and whine of malfunction. "_Must have rolled over it a few times_," I silently cussed at myself.

"Are you sure it's her kid…" I heard Phil speak from the hard static of the communicator.

"Positive!" I heard Will reply, "don't you realize? He looks like the grown version of 'em!" Their talk made me wonder who the subject of the discussion was.

"Well, now that you mention it… He does look like Gustavus," Phil responded.

"You mean his father, right?" I could tell by Will's tone of voice that he was smiling right now.

"Maybe… You might be wrong about this y'know. I've talked to him a bit, but not long enough to assume anything like you have… Look, tomorrow, I'll take him under my wing, train him for the day, and see for myself," I heard Phil say.

"Alright then, but I'm telling you it's him," Will walked off downstairs, leaving the fudgehog to chew on those words.

All that lingered in my mind after that was: "_Who exactly are they talking about_?" I fell asleep to the question only to wake up an hour later to Tess' voice…


	2. DAY 1: Learning the END of the Ropes

-1**DAY 1: Learning the END of the Ropes**

"Gus! Wake up already! I don't wanna be your alarm clock the rest of my life!" I blinked my eyes open to see Tess standing at the edge of my bed as she threw a plastic package half the size of my head on my lap.

"Sorry," I yawned, "I didn't get much sleep at all," Tess shook her head as I eyed up the delivery.

"You'll have to get used to it, I know these beds aren't the most comfortable but-"

"It's not that… It's just too soft," I cut her sentence short.

"Well we can't do anything about that either," she looked more annoyed, which made me think how much time did she spend trying to wake me up? It's probably best not to ask.

"I didn't say I wanted a new bed, just stating what was wrong with it…" I calmly replied, bringing myself to the edge of the bed, holding the package in my paws wondering what was inside.

"…Alright," the pretztail shrugged and walked towards the exit, only to stop and return her glance at me, "Anyways the boss wants to see you, and since it's the boss that wants to see you, I wouldn't waste any time, so hurry up and eat and get down there," and without anything else to say, she left.

"_What does Phil want with me?_" I questioned to myself as I opened up the bland, unwrapped gift, wondering what was inside. And of course it was rationed food. "_Should've guessed_," I rolled my eyes I as quickly picked out and ate the contents inside, most of which was slices of bread, an assortment of fruits, and some flattened meat like product. Not the tastiest, but it was satisfying nonetheless.

After eating, I walked out to the main room. To my surprise Phil wasn't present. I had the urge to ask, but everyone else looked so busy… Well, maybe except for Ryan, maybe he wouldn't mind a quick question.

"Ryan…" I tried not to sound nervous as talking with near strangers really wasn't my thing. Waiting a moment for his reply, I realized his eyes were closed and I could hear some kind of rhythmic tune coming out from what looked like thick plastic earmuffs.

"Ryan," I said a bit louder while tapping him on the shoulder, he nearly jumped out of his seat as his earmuffs fell onto his lap.

"I-I-I'm sorry boss I-," He said, thinking it was Phil that woke him up, "oh… It's the new rookie, what do you want?" He scowled while putting the earmuffs back on.

"I hate to disturb you from your work, but do you know where Phil is?" I asked, avoiding his mean glare now and then.

"No, and I don't care," the pieena turned away with the earmuffs emitting a louder sound than before. I repositioned my translator and headed downstairs, maybe someone there could help me out…Maybe even Will if I was lucky. However my hopes finding Will crumbled when I only spotted out a crowd of unknown piñatas. Discouraged, I hopped on one of the bar stools and requested a glass of water as the android came by. I guess a few minutes spent thinking of where Phil might be wouldn't hurt a bit.

"Hey Gus," I heard Will's voice come out of nowhere. "_Damn that little guy's good with camouflaging himself within the crowd… Or was he even in the crowd at all_," I pondered as I turned and waved at him.

"Hey…" I decided to just flat out ask him where Phil was, "By any chance, do you know where Phil might be?" I took a sip of water.

"Yeah, he's down in the third floor in the vehicle hangar, he's been down there quite awhile," the cocoadile said as I rushed off, not wanting to keep the fudgehog waiting more than he had to. "Wait!" Will shouted as I almost stumbled across my own two feet.

"What is it?" I turned and asked.

"You'll need this to get to the third floor," he approached me and placed a flimsy thin card in my paw, "Phil meant to give it to you earlier, but you were already in bed," Will shrugged.

"Oh, thanks," I played around with the plastic card, bending it around figuring out how in the world this would open a door.

"No problem," the cocoadile gave me a slight nudge towards the door that asked for identification.

"_Oh I get it, I just have to show this to the door and I have instant access_!" I concluded as I confronted the door. It asked for the same thing as usual, but I had trouble figuring out how to show the door my card. That is until Will took my paw that was holding the card and guided it, inserting the card into a slot that was on the door.

"Just like that," Will said as the door parted open.

"Thanks," I felt extremely stupid by now.

"Hmm-mm," The cocoadile hummed as he went back to his room. The chances of getting chewed out for being late were really high now. I took the stairs down as fast as my feet could handle without tripping over any steps. Luckily I made it down without taking a fall, I was somewhat proud of myself for that. After celebrating a small victory, I quickly navigated to the hangar without any difficulty thanks to a sign that pointed out the door that led to my destination.

If I were to be asked 'what is the most amazing room in this place was,' I would have easily picked the hangar. Inside were land vehicles and machinery beyond my imagination, not to mention how enormous the room itself was. Other piñatas also inhabited the place, which made finding Phil in the mechanical maze much harder. However, it didn't take me long to find Phil, or really him to find me.

"What took you so long Gus?" I heard Phil's voice as he tapped me on the shoulder, almost enough to make me fall forward in fright.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" I shouted, trying to catch my breath.

"It's something you're gonna have to get used to Gus. Up on the surface, you have to be ready for anything, its best you start exercising your awareness," Phil shook his head in disapproval.

"I understand sir, I'm sorry for being late as well," I sincerely apologized.

"No, you're not sorry. When you're dead, _That's_ when you're sorry," the fudgehog patted me on the shoulder.

"Um… Alright sir," I scratched the back of my head in confusion.

"Anyways, follow me, your training starts now Gus," he turned me around and led me towards the corner of the hangar. There was some kind of strange vehicle suspended in the air by some kind of supernatural force unseen to me. "Put this on," Phil threw some green plastic plated armor at me, "we'll go through some target practice," I struggled to work it all on, it got to the point to where Phil had to help.

"Thanks," I moved around in place to get used to the weight.

"Now take this," He handed me some kind of gun I've seen some piñata's use on the surface, just not nearly as threatening, "you know how to use it right?" Phil looked at me as if I were stupid.

"I think so," I nodded as the fudgehog brought down my visor, leaving me totally blind.

"Great, now let's see what you can do," Phil said as I was lifted into the air.

"Whoa, what's happening?" I called down as my legs and feet flailed about, looking for solid ground.

"It's the simulation, hovering's just so you don't run into anything laying on the ground, so don't worry, you'll be staying right in place," he informed me.

"Al-Alright," I brought my legs together and held my weapon as I saw many others do, readying myself for what was to come next.

I was presented with a new world, or what at least what the visor was showing me, a dull sea of short grass as far as I could see.

"For this part of the simulation, just shoot whatever you see moving, easy enough for you?" I heard his voice come in through the helmet I was wearing.

"Sounds easy," I wasn't very confident, but I decided to hide it. Testing out my gun, I could see the red laser projectiles fly across into the distance, I chuckled watching them soar. However the sound of Phil's throat aggressively clearing out got me to stop instantly. I knew he wanted me to take this seriously and so I shaped up without another warning. A few mallowolves appeared in the distances, clad in their own kind of cheap protection and armed with second rate guns that looked like they were created from scrap parts. I didn't hesitate firing at them, and I smiled as they vaporized into nothing.

The idea of being turned into nothing floated in my head. It seemed ludicrous when I tried to figure it out, but I guess I didn't have to as it happened right in front of my eyes. Plus the whole thing was a simulation, so I guess it was all just eye candy tricks for the mind. Being in deep thought, it took a few bullet hits to bring my head back in the game.

"Damn! that hurts," I said, almost falling on my tail as I tried to fight the force of the bullets that sunk in.

"It won't leave a mark though," Phil dryly joked.

"Ha-ha-ha," I faked a laugh as I sent the next wave of piñatas into oblivion.

"Hmm… How about we test your endurance then?" Phil said, and not a moment later, I was surrounded from side to side by the enemy, and they were swiftly approaching, but not as fast as their bullets were. With no place to hide, I had to make do with dodging the projectiles the best I could while returning it, which I will admit was very sloppy, I don't think I even brought one down.

"Are you serious?" I shouted as I was about to meet my death in the simulation world.

"Fine, fine, I can clearly tell you're not ready for this kind of stuff yet, back to the basics with you," I could hear the disappointment in his voice as the swarm vanished into nothing, with the exception of a few. My morale returned as I quickly picked my gun back up and returned to fending them off.

"_Now just keep it like this_," I spoke to Phil in my head, not really wanting to say it in fear of him turning the heat back up again. As I gotten used to the method, I started practicing on a higher speed, shooting them as soon as they appeared. The fudgehog remained silent as I kept on training, I almost forgot he was still in the room.

"I think you got enough taste of the action for now Gus, that good enough," Phil finally spoke as my vision when black. And before I knew it I was back on the ground, with my helmet already removed, thanks to the fudgehog.

"So are we all done then?" I asked, hoping to at least be able to sit down.

"Not quite," Phil slammed the helmet back on me, returning me into the darkness, "you still have learn how to operate our all-terrain G-C025… It's the most basic vehicle we have,"

"What?" I responded in disbelief, not even a quick break to let everything I had learned sink in. The suit flew back into the air, and I assumed placed me into the hovering vehicle I spotted out earlier. My sight had returned, however it was the simulation I was looking at once again.

"Okay, this part's really simple, just look for the flashing parts to grab and the arrow in which to turn or place towards," The fudgehog instructed me.

"Uhh…" However his words of advice were confusing.

"It's not that hard, just follow what it shows you to do," he made a bit more sense this time. I surveyed the vehicle over, more in admiration than to study it. It was much more high tech than the gas guzzling old beaters you'd find in Remtrii, however I never got to operate nor ride in one of the vehicles myself, this was like an incentive to me now. There was a large panel next to the steering wheel that was flashing. I place my paw on it wondering where to move it.

Instead the vehicle had turned itself on. I laughed a bit at myself, overestimating the first step. Next a stick with a small black ball on top of it flashed, the simulation told me to take it and put it in drive. I had no idea what it was talking about, but I grabbed hold of the stick anyways and waited for an arrow to point me out where to go. Fortunately, it just had to go up one notch. As I made the switch I could feel something inside the vehicle move. Normally, I would be hesitant about what was happening, but I still had the constant remind blaring through my head that this was only a simulation. I searched for another flashing object again. However there was none to be found. I pondered for a second if this was the end of training, but it wasn't because I haven't even made the vehicle move an inch.

"The gas pedal!" Phil shouted out at me, as if the simulation's voice wasn't enough to push me over the edge.

"Where is it?" I was still searching it out, but it must have been too small for me to see it.

"It's around where your feet are!" Phil barked at me as if my incompetence was too much for him.

"Oh," I check under the steering wheel where my feet were hanging, and of course, I saw the pedal flashing right in my face, I went to go press it with my paws… That is until I got another tongue lashing from Phil.

"Use your feet! They're called 'pedals' for a reason!" I knew he couldn't handle much more of my mistakes, plus his attitude towards me was making me edgy.

"Alright!" I responded as I sat myself up and supervised where my foot was going so I could see which pedal I had to press. Putting moderate pressure on the pedal, the vehicle jerked into motion without warning. The fear resettled into my thoughts as I grasped onto the steering wheeling for support, I probably would have flown off otherwise.

"Tsk tsk tsk, seat belts Gus..." Phil lectured me, but he sounded more collected than he had been earlier.

"_Seat belts, okay_…" the thought rushed through my head as I desperately looked for another flashing light, one that would obviously point out the seat belt, but there was no guide here to help me, unless I was looking in the wrong place.

"Gus! Keep your eyes on where you're going!" I heard the fudgehog holler, but by the time I got the message, it was already too late. A large, impending bolder nearly the size of the hangar was all that I saw before I blacked out, ending my virtual life in the simulation.

"Uhnnn," I groaned in pain. Unfortunately, my virtual death didn't rid me of the suffering as real death would have.

"Well… You do better than most that've come from the places you have," Phil shed some light on my failure, "usually they're stumped on how to put the whole thing in gear," the fudgehog laughed at the fact.

"Can I… try again?" I managed through the pain.

"I was going to make you whether you wanted to or not," Phil said, not really enthusiastic about my response. And with that I was back in the driver's seat once again, this time the vehicle was sitting idly as it had been before I started it up.

"Well let's hope this time's a little easier…" I reached for the ignition panel, but not before Phil had stopped me.

"Gus," he cleared his throat, "seat belt," he reminded me, and I was glad he did too. With the vehicle motionless, it would allow me all the time I need to find the seat belt. I tugged on what looked like two thick straps stuck on a demented shape of metal.

"Is this the seat belt?" I hoped for approval as I held on to it.

"Yes it is Gus," the enthusiasm was lacking once again.

"What do I do with it then?" I asked.

"Buckle yourself in, that's pretty much a given…" Phil let out a miserable sigh. I didn't respond to him, I knew he needed time to himself to cool down once again.

"_Buckle yourself in…_" I recited in my mind as I pondered where I was supposed to _buckle _this _seat belt_ into. My eyes came across a chuck of metal shaped into a flat square that had a thin slit that fell deep into the metal itself. Struck with an idea, I placed the metal part connecting the straps near the slit eyeing them up. Sure enough, they fit together as I drove the strapped metal into the silt, ending with a click.

"Finally," Phil clapped at my achievement, "now get your ass in gear Gus!"

"Yes, sir!" I placed myself back into a driver's mindset. Turning the vehicle on and putting it in gear, I kept in mind that I should go a bit easier on the pedal. I pressed down little by little until the vehicle reacted. I was relieved as I traveled at a tolerable speed, much slower than before.

"What are you afraid of? Pick it up a bit!" Phil was displeased with my sluggishness. I couldn't keep disappointing him like this or I'd probably never hear the end of it, and besides, I'd never know how to operate a beast like this at high speeds if I never attempted to learn. Applying a bit more pressure to the gas pedal, the vehicle gained more speed. I kept myself calm, as near impossible as that was once I recalled the accident that happened last time I had achieved unbelievable speeds.

"You're doing great now," I heard Phil complement me before warning me once again, "now here comes the rock from before!" the words echoed in my head as I spotted the giant bolder as a speck in the distance… A speck that was rapidly growing, a speck that would be my end once again if I had chose to do nothing. My sight was engaged with the rock so much, I almost didn't catch the flashing of the wheel before me.

"_I'm guessing this is how I steer this thing_," I concluded as my paws tightened their grip around the wheel. Glancing back at what was now a mountain, I wasted no time twisting the wheel all the way to the left to avoid a repeated fate. Fortunately for me, I had avoided it… Well _that_ fate at least. The vehicle ended up skidding from physics unknown to me and began tumbling in multiple barrel rolls before leaving me upside down, hanging from my seat belt.

"Oh Gus…" I was worried about the angry lecture he'd give me, but then I heard some stifled chuckling in the background… Was he laughing at me now? Making some attempt to hide it? I wouldn't know…

"Ugh…" I let out a sickly groan as my eyes couldn't keep a stilled image, disoriented from the recent stunt I pulled.

"Don't worry, motion-sickness'll do that to ya," This time he made no effort to hide his hilarity as I nearly brought up what was inside of me. Phil had reset the simulation again, leaving my dizziness in the game before.

"Thanks," I took a deep breath in, feeling renewed. Phil cleared his throat before replying, "you can thank me by doing better this time," all the joy and humor had been lost from his voice.

"Y-yes sir!" Buckling up, I started up the vehicle again, putting it in gear and taking off once again into the distance. I decided to outsmart the rock this time by turning a bit early and heading off in a different direction… The fudgehog didn't approve of this however.

"Ah-ah-aaah," he said as I could imagine him waving a finger at me. And just like that the rock was approaching me once again, or the other way around to be exact.

"What the-?" I shouted as feelings of unfairness began to arise.

"Just don't take the turn as hard and you'll be fine," he gave more advice before leaving me in the same situation as before. Listening to his words, I gently turned the wheel to the right, leaving the rock at the horizon. I watched it as it began to disappear, or until my vehicle hit something else… Something smaller than before, but strong enough to stop me.

"Gus… I told you before: Keep your eyes on the road!" Phil said irritably as I looked at what caught me off guard this time.

"A tree?" I cussed in my own native language seeing that the culprit was a large leafy tree of some sort, already half devoured by my vehicle. I stomped down on the gas pedal, but that hadn't done anything to get me out of this fix.

"Yes Gus, that would be a tree," Phil said dryly with a chuckle as he confirmed my sighting, "like rocks, they also prefer to stay in place,"

"I can see that…" I said as my palm met my face in an attempt to ease my frustration.

"Well put it in reverse and see if you can get out of there…" Phil suggested as he cooled himself down.

"Alright," the light of the ball on the short rod began to blink luminously in the corner of my eye. I cupped the ball in my paw as I found out by a helpful arrow I had to bring it down two levels. Doing so, I could feel the vehicle change up inside again.

"_So the vehicle is in _reverse…_ Now what_?" I thought to myself as tried the gas pedal again, though this time I almost screamed in fright as the beast pulled violently backwards, making the seat belt the only thing keeping me from colliding head on with the wheel.

As soon as I got over the scare, I realized my vehicle was free… A little banged up, but free nonetheless.

"You better not be doing this when you actually get behind the wheel with one of my G-C's" I heard the fudgehog grumbled, "or else I'll have you be the one to fix them up, piece by piece, and buff out any dents and scratches," he let out a jokingly laugh soon after, as if he were just kidding.

"O-Okay sir," I was a little apprehensive whether or not he was just joking with me about repairing he vehicles… I mean I barely even know how to operate this thing, let alone _repair_ it. I'll let the simulation do it until then…

"Anyways, I have a surprise in store for you up ahead," Phil's words made me wonder if this time he would have rocks or trees that would move, move right in front of me to be more exact. I switched the rod back into place and took off, driving around the tree and onwards… Towards this, _surprise_.

The distant sound of swarming, heavy, metallic bullets sliced through the air, and soon enough, other vehicles, mounted with massive machine guns, dove in after me from the distance. "_Always one step above my expectations, aren't you Phil_?" I growled, knowing the odds were against me.

"I think they like you," Phil let out a cruel laugh or two as I transitioned the vehicle into reverse and sped out of the area. I checked behind the side mirrors every other second to make sure I wasn't going to be crashing into anything else.

"I beg to differ," I replied as the bullets continued to follow, occasionally scoring a hit off my vehicle.

"Why don't you go play with them?" I thought the fudgehog was crazy for saying that. That was until I spotted one of the buttons on the wheel start to flash, the words on it were written in their crazy language, but I assumed it'd save me anyways. Pressing down on it, I heard mechanical hums and whistles assemble something up from above and miraculously my vehicle is fitted with a nicely sized gun of its own! Though the only question now was: …How do I use it?

I was still retreating in reverse as I pondered this dilemma over, "_come on, come on, give me a sign_," I begged for something to blink or point me in the right direction, however I was left with nothing. Knowing this would mean the end for me once again, I had halted my retreat and sat there, waiting for my attackers to catch up. As my eyes steadied themselves on the approaching threat, I heard my mounted weapon start to fire off rapidly, nearly scaring me half to death believing it to be an enemy from above.

"It works?" I shouted in disbelief as I glanced back at it. The active gun seemed to have a mind of its own, turning itself to face another target after eliminating the previous one.

"Of course it does!" Phil answered back, "I know you don't have the competence to drive and shoot at the same time," the fudgehog believed.

"Well I didn't know it worked by itself…" My voice dropped, feeling like more of an idiot than ever.

"Don't get down on yourself, at least you're doing them in!" he attempted to give my confidence back. And as I gazed back at the battlefield, most of the opposition was already stopped in their tracks. It was enough to work a little smile out of me. However one of them kept accelerating at me, I noticed their weapon was unresponsive, I assumed it as they were out of ammo and coming in for a kamikaze attack that'd sure put an end to me. There was something wrong about the oncoming vehicle though, my weapon wouldn't register it as an enemy.

"What's wrong with you?" I barked at my vehicle as I shook the steering wheel in frustration, hoping it would be able to hear me. Unfortunately, that method didn't work… I checked to see if I was still in reverse, but before I could slam down on the gas pedal; my vehicle was swiftly impaled by the large spikes on theirs. And I was impaled by the impact that crushed me inside. All I could do was let a weak dying wail for Phil's help as I bled to death.

"You could have avoided that wa-a-ay before it could have happened Gus," Phil didn't waste any time resetting the simulation, putting my body back together.

"…I know," I said with a large sigh of relief, more content with my well being than whatever criticism that fudgehog sputtered out at me.

"Anyways, I think you've got the point of G-C battles, let's try exercising that motion-sickness of yours," Phil said as the ground in front of me began to fall away, revealing a large ramp that looked like it could go on forever. "First up is speed, I want to see how long you can last before cracking…" He let tried to suppress a snicker.

"_Great…The simulation goes from being a great place to practice, to a cruel torture device,_" I concluded as I refused, slowly starting the vehicle. "I don't feel right about this… Can we do this another time?" I tried to reason my way out of this.

"No Gus, the war doesn't stop, and neither should you," he said as my vehicle started to magically put itself in gear. Seeing my vehicle acting out in defiance to my decision, I quickly strapped myself in knowing this wasn't going to be a pleasant ride in the least. I covered my eyes as the vehicle neared the drop-off.

"No-no-no-no-no-no," I repeated until Phil interrupted me with, "You better hold onto the wheel," and as I removed my arms from my tightly shut eyes, I reached blindly for the wheeling, catching it as I soon started to gain momentum… Fast.

"Eyes open and on the path your going Gus," he reminded me, letting me know how foolish I was for keeping my eye closed in fear. Opening them cautiously, the whole world seemed to fly by as physics pressed me back into my seat.

"Make it stop!" I begged as my face seemed to flutter in waves from the air blasting through me.

"You're almost done," Phil said, already knowing I broke before this even started. As my eyes quickly followed their way down the ramp, I noticed the jump was just a few seconds away. I felt my body start to resist as the vehicle arced up and off the ramp. I began yelling like crazy as I believed to be flying in the air now. Being too engrossed with this nightmarish ride, I hadn't realized I was screaming until Phil told me to shut up.

I heard a few consecutive, high-pitched beeps before it felt like the whole vehicle seemed to be flying straight in the air, nearly burying me in my seat.

"Don't worry, those are just the rocket boosters," the fudgehog reassured me with some more unknown gibberish. "you'll be back on the ground in no time," he informed me as I realized I was still pretty much below ground level. I set my sights at the sky above which had begun increasing the gap it was between, shining more light down on me. However it was the calm blue color of the cloudless sky that made me settle down for a bit.

"_Almost there…_" I watched as the vehicle not only closed the distance, but had overkilled the jump a bit, coming down with a large bang that pushed me deeper into my seat. Physics bounced me back out instantly.

"There, all done, now does someone need a hug from mommy?" Phil poked fun at my recent hysteria.

"Ha-ha, real funny," I muttered, letting it go in one ear and out the other.

"Aw, don't be so down, you finally get to take a break!" Phil's words instantly brought my spirits back up as the simulation world fled from my eyes, leaving me in the darkness. After working off my helmet, I realized I was still sitting in the simulation vehicle. I didn't strip myself of the other gear until after I departed from the vehicle. "You did alright, Gus," he patted me on the back.

"Really?" I braced myself for another lie.

"Yes! You've easily done what most couldn't do coming from a place without any modern technological equipment," he said in amazement.

"That's… Unexpected," I was left speechless, for once in my life I felt… Accomplished.

"Though I'd say you're average compared to everyone else including those with previous experiences with this stuff before receiving trainning," Phil's comment didn't hurt my self-assurance much. It was more like constructive criticism if anything.

"Oh, alright," I shrugged it off.

"Anyways, I'll let you go before I talk your ear off with my blathering," Phil shooed me off and I left with only a wave.

"_I wonder what they'll have me do tomorrow_," the questioned repeated itself in my head, keeping me on my toes as I navigated the halls and stairs. Upon opening the door, Will's figure stood right across from the doorway.

"So how'd it go?" He asked it a tone that would go with a smile, a smile Will just couldn't work up.

"…Depends, the physical training, or mental training," I said with a joking laugh or two, however still feeling slightly scarred from the recent experience.

"Heh, I didn't know they were teaching telekinesis now!" Will joked, laughing his stone face off.

"Far from it, Will," my grin began to fade as he led me towards the bar.

"Well how was it anyways, the whole experience I mean," Will locked his eyes on mine.

"Indescribable," I summed it up in one word.

"That's not a very original response," He elbowed me a few times before taking a seat on one of the stools.

"I wasn't going for originality, I was just speaking my mind," I defended my response.

"Aaah… I gotcha," he said as the android bartender asked him for his order, which was the same 'ol iced tea. However when it asked me with the same greeting it gave Will, Will started to order for me.

"Give him something nice, he deserves it," Will winked at the android, and without question it left, acknowledging exactly what Will meant.

"Something nice?" I recited it in the same tone he put it as.

"Yeah… What's wrong with that?" He questioned.

"Well… I really don't know what this '_something nice_' is…" I said, hoping it wasn't something that tasted funny, it's not what I need for a riled up stomach.

"Ah, don't worry about it, if you don't like it, you don't have to drink it… That just means more for me," Will let out a hearty laugh.

"I guess that's true," I said, feeling a bit more fervent to try this _something nice_ now.

As the android came back with our drinks, I examined Will's as it was handed out first. However it looked very bland standing next to mine. My glass was filled with a thick golden liquid, topped with even thicker foam that almost seemed to seep from the top of the glass.

"What is this?" I eyeballed it, seeing nothing like it.

"Good old beer, Gus," Will shook his head as if I should have known this.

"…_Beer_," I shot back, drawing the glass of it closer.

"Yeah… Just try it, besides, it's a rarity in this region of the island, and we don't get it imported often, so consider yourself lucky you even have a glass in your paws," his words made it even more appealing.

"Alright," I nodded, bringing the drink up to my mouth with both paws. I took a huge swig of the golden liquid expecting a heavenly taste. However my tongue was immersed with a very, VERY, coppery bitter and cold taste that made me want to spit it back up. I placed the glass down and swallowed the mouthful down as my face scrunched up in revulsion. "How can you drink this stuff?" I nearly shouted, glaring at him as if he were just joking about everything he just had said.

"Well… It's more for the effects than just the taste…" Will's eyes averted away, looking at the nothingness in an imaginary distance as he shrugged.

"Effects?" His reason filled me with perplexity as to what these effects did to someone.

"Just finish up what you got there and maybe you'll find out…" He pointed to the glass, still looking off into oblivion. Gazing at the glass, I pondered whether or not I could handle such a drink. However my mind was settled as my stomach came in, growling with its opinion.

"I'd rather not… Maybe another day," I pushed the glass towards Will, giving him the rest of it… And for a moment, I swear I could see the faintest smile protrude on his lips.

"Nice decision there Gus," He approved. Any sign of happiness in his face was now gone, but his tone of voice shown it otherwise. I didn't say anything as I watched him down the whole thing in one sitting, I was impressed.

"_I guess it _WAS _no joke_," still wondering how someone could like such an unpleasant taste like that.

"Hey Gus!" I heard Tess' voice from behind as she climbed into the seat next to mine.

"Oh, Hi Tess," I said, smiling at her a bit.

"So how was first day's training?" she asked in a kind but probing tone.

"Indescribable," Will ended up answering for me before I could even think of what to say.

"Hey!" I turned to Will, glaring at the stunted cocoadile.

"What? It's what you said to me, so I though I'd tell Tess to save you the time," Tess giggled at his comment as he set the empty glass down on the counter and pushed it away only for it to be promptly retrieved by the android. I think the response was his way of thanking me for giving him my drink.

"I see," She said, eyeing the area around me, "you thirsty Gus?" She said probably spotting me with not glass near or in my paws. Then I recalled the rancid taste of that horrid excuse for a drink, after something like that, I could use something more flavorful.

"Yeah, very much so," I licked my lips, which still carried the bitter taste of beer.

"Here, I'll get you something you'll enjoy!" Tess called the android over and whispered something incomprehensible to it. I looked at Tess, hoping she wasn't going to surprise me with the same thing Will had.

"Here you are sir," The robotic bartender returned with a glass of liquid similar to what was in the one the android gave me before, except this time it wasn't as thick and there was no foam rising from it, it resembled urine in a way I guess.

"Well, are you gonna try it?" Tess verbally pushed it on me as I sat there eyeing the glass up and down, hoping it didn't taste what it looked like.

"Yeah-yeah, give me a second," I waved an arm up, shooing off the pressure she put on me. Placing my paws on the glass hesitantly, I brought it slowly to my lips, hoping that Tess wasn't trying to play one on me either.

"So…?" Tess' voice trailed on as she watched me carefully sip the drink.

"Actually…" I smacked my lips a few times, "It's not that bad… What is it?" I asked savoring the sweet taste as I awaited her answer.

"Apple juice silly, haven't you had it before?" She asked, however the sound of the drink seemed foreign. I've heard it being said a few times back in my hometown, but never seen the actual substance myself.

"No, not at all," I replied in all honesty, "but I really like it!" I smiled at her for a moment before enjoying the rest of what was in the glass.

"I can tell…" Tess gawked at me as I chugged the whole thing in mere seconds.

"…Don't tell me this is a rarity here too!" I wiped my mouth clean as I looked over to Will, who shrugged in response.

"Wouldn't know," He shook his head as I glanced at Tess for an answer.

"Well… Everything a rarity really, except the meat we get…" Tess cleared her voice as if she had trouble going on.

"The meat?" I repeated, "where do you get it then?" That's when Will butted in with, "we get them from the kills we make each day," which made me think of the outside… The war… The kills! I seen it clearly now, the meat they get is clearly from the dead bodies of those who were caught pointing a gun at them!

"Will! Don't put it on so strongly! He's already had a tough day," Tess hissed at the cocoadile.

"Hey, I'm just telling it like it is, you're either war material or you're not," Will shrugged his shoulders again. My stomach growled as I recalled what I had this morning, knowing that it could be part cannibalistic.

"Guys… I think I might just skip the meat next time," I held my stomach in as it growled louder.

"It's okay Gus," Tess reassured, "If you're not right with it, you don't have to eat it."

"…Just means more for me," Will chuckled coldly with his response.

"Will! …Ugh, nevermind, Gus, are you feeling okay?" The pink pretztail asked with much concern as my stomach continued complaining.

"…I, I think I can keep it down, can I have more apple juice please?" I replied, knowing that sweet taste could help me last longer.

"Sure…" Tess called the android over for another glass and I was promptly given one almost on the spot. "Drink up Gus," she rubbed my back as I picked up the drink with both paws and consumed it sparingly, only taking sips when my stomach rebelled against my mind.

"Thanks," I nodded at Tess after taking a gulp of the juice.

"Don't mention it," She smiled at me.

"A shower'll do just fine if you're feeling under the weather," Will threw in his opinion on how to fix my churning stomach.

"Really?" I turned to him, taking another sip.

"Sure, it's upstairs, want me to show you?" The cocoadile offered.

"That'd be nice," I smiled and nodded as we both stood up from our seats, leaving our drinks behind.

"I'll see ya' later then Gus," I heard Tess say as I started to walk away.

"Bye," I turned around and waved to Tess as I followed Will, almost running into another piñata coming down the stairs.

"It's right next to the stairs pretty much, hard to miss it," The cocoadile spoke as we ascended the flight of stairs.

"Alright," my eyes started darting around for something obvious as we completed the last step.

"…Right here," Will stood near a decently sized room, probably one-third the size of the bunk room.

"Oh, alright," I tried the door, but for some unusual reason it was locked.

"Try knocking," Will suggested, "I'll be back down in the lounge if you wanna hang out after," he said before departing. I held off knocking until Will was out of sight.

"Hold on! Give me a damn minute!" Kalya's voice boomed through the door of the shower room.

"All…Alright," my voice was reduced to a frightened whisper as I took a few steps away from the door, fearful that Kalya might just bust through and knock me to the floor. Pondering idle thoughts, I kept my sight on the door, until Kayla emerged.

"…Hmph!" she grunted as she glared at me from the doorway. I brushed past her and into the shower room swiftly, not wanting to start any trouble. Closing the door behind me, I could hear her footfalls heading down the flight of stairs.

"Phew…" A sigh of relief escaped my lips now that Kayla was out of the way. After carefully locking the door, I realized the shower room wasn't all that big as it looked on the outside. The shower stall in the far corner was fitted to hold three piñatas of my size comfortably inside, which in turn put my worries of being cramped up to rest. Next to the shower near myself was a rack that held dry, fuzzy towels, whereas the used and dampened ones were deposed in a large hamper below it.

As I walked over to the shower I couldn't help but gaze at my own refection in the body mirror screwed into the wall. "_I look like a wreck…_" my thoughts echoed at I eyed myself up. My mache was frizzled from the sweat that had dried, but when I turned my attention to my hair, I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It was completely flat from the helmet I wore for who knows how long. I was unable to recognize myself now that the blight on my head was too hard to look away from.

Thankfully, I would be able to fix it as soon as I got into the shower, which was beginning to sound even better right now. Remembering the translator in my ear, I plucked it out and set it on a nearby counter. "_Wouldn't want that in the shower… I'm already in enough hurt_," my mind said as I gawked at the translator blankly for a few moments.

I shook my head to recollect myself and stepped inside the stall. My eyes immediately looked over the controls. "_Unfortunately there's no arrows and blinking lights to help me here…_" I frowned at knobs. My paws brushed over them carefully, making sure not to push one out of place until I've made a decision. I noticed both had unusual symbols engraved on them, however with separate colors… One blue, and the other red.

Back in Remtrii, showers weren't this complex. They only had one lever and one nozzle… This one confused me with all the switches, levers, knobs and nozzles. It was way too advanced for my knowledge, almost to a point were I went to ask for help, but that would be too embarrassing in my case. After taking a few more moments of consideration, I decided to wing the contraption myself.

My eyes winced as my paw slowly twisted the blue nozzle. The sound of pipes filling up with water entered my ears and in less than seconds I was greeted with icy cold water that forced a chilled scream out of me. There was an unusual language spoken at the door, it seemed somewhat concerned as it was probably questioning what was happening in the shower.

"I-I d-d-don't Understa-sta-stand you!" my voice was shaken as I stood shivering and soaked… There was no reply and I didn't wait for one as I tried the red counterpart. I waited for awhile, looking at the nozzle eagerly. However this time I was caught off guard with steamy hot water. My face cringed as I fought through the stinging water to turn it off. As the nozzle dripped dry, I sat on the moist tiled floor with my breath taken from me for a few moments. I scowled at the knobs while conjuring up scenarios in my head on how I was going to get a temperature of water that wouldn't leave me worse than I am now.

A few minutes went by as I finally came up with an idea. I slowly got back to my feet and stepped back to the knobs. I turned them both at once, maybe combined, I would get room temperature water. My hypothesis was proven wrong, however it wasn't that bad of a discovery. Instead of normal temperature, a tolerable, warm water sprinkled out. A laugh of delight and victory escaped from my mouth as I twirled around in the shower.

Though my movements came to an abrupt stop as I realized that this was only half the battle. There were many more controls to test out, and to be honest, I didn't feel entirely up to it. I hesitated slightly before pressing a random button. Just as I pressed it in, I jumped away from the nozzle, safe from any contact from the water. Blinking my eyes a few times to be sure I wasn't seeing things, I noticed that white foam was streaming out of the nozzle mixing with the water.

Exercising caution, I stuck out a paw and tested it. The foam was of the same temperature thankfully, but I didn't let my guard down yet. Curiosity brought the sample up to my nose so I could sniff it. It had a nice florally, fruity scent to it. It enticed me enough to even taste it. But as I did, I had wished I didn't.

The flavor induced tears to well up in my eyes as my face scrunched up from the bitterness. Whatever it was, it surely wasn't edible. I took the next few seconds scraping the taste out of my mouth with the other paw as I waved the other one free of the foam.

Once I was content with myself, I contemplated what to do with the foam as it lathered itself up on the ground. "_I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to bathe in this stuff seeing as it smells nice_," I concluded as I knelt down and began to gather some of the foam up. It tickled a bit as I massaged it into my mache, but in a pleasurable way. Eventually, I found myself rolling around in it, giggling all the way.

Unfortunately, as I stood up, I realized I was waist deep in the stuff. Wasting no time, I rushed back over to the controls and turned off the foam by pressing the same button again. A relieving sigh escaped my lips as normal water began to gently pelt me from above. My interest was captured as the foam dissolved as the water poured over it. I was glued watching until some of the watered down foam covered my eyes, instantly burning them.

I flailed about franticly as tears trailed down my cheeks. I tried my best to hold back any form of yelling or screaming, I didn't need to attract anymore attention to myself especially when I couldn't even understand anyone else at the moment.

In desperation, I used the back of my paws to wipe away the foam, but that wasn't enough as the burning sensation still remained. A small growl escaped my lips as I was nearing my breaking point. "_How could someone get used to this stuff_?" I mentally complained as I felt around for the running water.

After I had found it, I willingly let the water splash into my face. Idly standing there, I released a soft sigh as most of the pain went away. A giggled escaped my mouth as I bravely opened my eyes. They winced a bit as a some of the pain returned, but at least this time it was tolerable.

I took the time to glance at the shower a bit, a small smile curved on my lips as I was relieved most of the foam had gone down the drain. "_Well I don't have to worry about being suffocated in the stuff anymore_," I slightly chucked at my own joke as I turned the water off.

I stepped out of the stall into chilly air. It forced a shiver out of me as I rushed dripping wet for a towel. Grabbing one, I wasted no time drying my hair off. I brought myself to the mirror and watched myself as I dried off. I couldn't help but gawk like a fool, my mache had a healthy look to it, shiny, almost glazed like. Whatever was in that foam really did wonders for my mache. I turned myself around in front of the mirror to get a better look at my backside and it too was shiny! Hastily, I finished drying the rest of myself off, but I began to noticed that most of the sheen had been lost along with the moistness. It was a good thing I didn't let things like that get to me, being clean was good enough for my needs and it had been a first since I gotten a cleansing like this.

Throwing the towel into the hamper, I used my paws to flatten and comb out my hair. Using the aid of the mirror, I tried to get most of the snarls out, though I ended up giving up because the pain of getting them out was too much. I gave myself one last look in the mirror and shrugged, "_at least I look better than before…_" my thoughts echoed as I couldn't complain about my decent appearance. Giving a quick nod to myself though the mirror, I bid farewell to my refection, donned my translator, and headed out the door. Upon opening the door, I was almost greeted with a pink fist. Taken off guard, I fell to the floor, my eyes studied my attacker with an obvious hint of fear.

"Gus!" Tess cried, drawing back her paw, "I was just about to knock, I didn't mean to scare you!" She offered me a paw up and I hesitantly took it, shaking a bit with confusion.

"It's… It's alright," My eyes flickered about as I stood up, hoping to catch Tess if she was going to throw another punch. Tess's nose inhaled deeply, as her muzzle drew closer to my hair.

"Gus… You used the lilac scented shampoo…" My eye caught her cheeks flushing a bit, "I like it," she let out a small giggle as I wondered what she was getting at. "But Gus… You're hair, it's so matted!" She pawed through it a bit as her face written with dire concern.

"It's fine," I countered back, pushing her paws away, still suspicious of her motives.

"No it's not, I can get those out for you, come with me, I'll get my brush and work those out!" Tess took me by the paw and tugged me away from the shower room.

"I said it was fine!" I tried to talk myself out of it as I resisted her, but her strength overpowered mine.

"Gus, I just want to help!" the pretztail managed to get me into the bunk room and place me on the bed, "my brush is in the footlocker, I'll be back with it in a bit," I watched her round the corner. Now was my chance for escape, but as soon as stood up I heard Tess's voice bark out, "Where do you think you're going mister?"

That second I launched into a sprint out the door. Sadly, my speed wasn't enough as Tess grasped me by the fluff on the back of my neck and dragged me back to the bed.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Gus… This is why you need a mother in your life, to keep you in line!" I fought against the brush.

"You're not my mother!" I growled as she smacked my paws away.

"I will be if it means I gotta brush that tangled mess of hair of yours!" She got the brush into my hair and worked it loose.

"I don't need no stinkin' mother!" I sat there, scorned and defeated as Tess had her way with my hair.

A few growls escaped my lips as she violently worked out the snarls. "_Does she even have any idea how much this-_" "Ooow!" "_…Hurts?"_

"Sorry…" The pretztail brushed my hair out a few times after her apology, "aaand… There! All done," She admired my new appearance with a infatuated smile. "Your mother would be proud," A string of giggles came out of her mouth.

"Oh boy…" I said dryly as I rolled my eyes, "now that THAT'S over, can I get some rest?" I scowled in annoyance.

"Sure, sure, I made your life miserable enough already," She poked my nose in a teasing manner before walking out.

"Hm?" I hummed, noticing Tess hadn't left as she peeked at me through the doorway.

"Good night Gus, sweet dreams," She blew a motherly kiss at me, as I instantly hid from it underneath my pillow.

"Tch, good riddance is more like it," I mumbled to myself as I began to cool down.

I lay there as the silence began to settle in, feelings of peacefulness began to enter inside as I felt myself drift off. However the familiar voices of yesterday night poked into my mind again, reminding me I still had my translator on.

"So how was it, did'ja learn anything about him?" I heard Will ask from the main room.

"Well…" Phil started off, "He seems more capable than his father…"

"So you agree with me then!" Will jumped to conclusions.

"Not exactly… I'm on the edge of believing, I just don't want to assume," Phil corrected himself.

"Well what's holding you back then?" The cocoadile said as I could picture his paws on his hips.

"I just need proof… That's all…" I imagined the fudgehog shaking his head right about now.

"You want proof? Let's get DNA samples from Kayla and the pup and we'll have Evan evaluate them, will that be enough proof for 'ya?" Will hissed at the ignorant fudgehog.

"Fine, fine! But just to let you know I haven't seen Kayla ANYWHERE today! So until you get a hold of her, we can't assume ANYthing!" Phil argued back.

"Hmph… Alright then, but when I prove you wrong, you better trust me the next time I get an '_ASSUMPTION_!'" The cocoadile roared back, I could probably bet his face had even fit the act as well.

"Geez… Calm down, for a little guy… You got quite a temper," I smiled at this point as I thought Phil would have probably crapped himself from all the anger Will was giving off.

"So what are you gonna do with the kid then?" Will ignored his superior's advice and continued on with his attitude.

"I'm promoting him to outside guard duty," Phil said sternly, "I need to see what he'd act like under REAL pressure, not this fake simulation crap."

"What? On the second day? Are you frickin' nuts?" I could see Will pulling at his hair right now… If he had hair that is, "he's just a boy! You just can't throw him out there with just one day's training! He's not ready!" The cocoadile began to let his anger rule his actions.

"Shhh! Keep your voice down," I could picture Phil putting a finger to the cocoadile's muzzle, "most piñatas sleep at this hour!"

"I'll be quiet until I know you won't send Gus out there!" I let out a gasp as soon as I heard my name… My mind sat there unaware of the conversation as it digested what it still heard. "_So all of this talk, yesterday and today, _HAS_ been about me. So Kayla's assumed to be my mother…_" I pulled the pillow from my face and gazed at my Mallowolf-pattered tail through the dim light. "_I guess that would explain why I'm part mallowolf as well_," I thought as took what I recently heard with a grain of salt. Even though I was part Mallowolf, I never really let it bug me as I never really paid attention to my tail unless it was injured, or in the way.

"So you promise then?" I tuned back into Will's voice.

"Yes, Gus will have the ultimate protection while he's out there, satisfied now?" I heard Phil grumble as he stomped away, eventually heading down stairs.

"Hmph… No respect… We go through all this trouble of keep him away from this all, and when the pup came back what does the asshole do? Throws him into the war and treats him like the others…" I heard the cocoadile tread downstairs, most likely into his room to cool down.

Tonight's discussion made sleeping easier said than done. All I did was toss and turn throughout the night until Tess' voice called for me in the morning.


	3. DAY 2: So Close to the END… Base

-1**DAY 2: So Close to the END… Base**

"Gus, it's your second day! This doesn't mean you can sleep in!" Her ordering voice induced a bitter groan out of me.

"I didn't get ANY sleep," I countered as I sat up in bed, still sleepy eyed.

"Boo-hoo, you can sleep later. Beside, you can pick up an energy drink downstairs if you're so concerned about still being tired," She crossed her arms and gave me a stern look.

"An… Energy, drink?" My head tilted to the side, wondering what it was.

"There's no time to explain, just go down and order one and meet Phil in the vehicle hangar, I hear he's got a REAL mission for you!" Tess' lips curved into a smirk as she marched off.

"_A REAL mission… Oh boy…_" I rubbed my eyes and hopped out of bed, slowly making my way to the lounge. Whatever this 'energy drink' was, I was surely going to need it as I was too groggy to even be awake. Half asleep, I nearly fell down the stairs, luckily Ryan was there to catch me before I did.

"Geez, you look like you've had too much to drink," the pieena commented on my appearance as his eyes ate up my face.

"I'm just tired… That's all," I brushed his paw from my shoulder.

"Here, I'll help you down the stairs," he replaced his paw on me and aided me all the way down. My body picked up dark vibes as his paw stayed there… It felt familiar, but it's been awhile since I've felt something like this before… But before I could put my paw on it, I was already at the bottom of the stairs and Ryan was already walking away.

"Take it easy now…" He waved the back of his paw at me, mumbling something else after I couldn't catch. I sleepily waddled over to the stools and sat down on the one closest to me.

"Your order, sir?" The android said in it's monotonous voice as always.

"A-, an… Energy drink, please," I had hoped that the robot knew what I was talking about.

"Certainly sir," it had left for a brief moment, but not long enough for me to drift off, "here you are!" It pushed a glass of red liquid into my face, which was already leaning on the bar table.

"Th-thank you," I pulled myself together as I sat up and placed my paws around the glass. My eyes examined the eerie glow the liquid gave off. It made me question whether or not the substance was even safe to drink or not.

"You better drink that before it's all over your face," I heard Will's voice as he nudged me back awake.

"Oh… Oh!" I realized I had spilt some of the energy drink onto the table, "thanks," my paws brought the glass to my lips as I prepared myself for anything.

"Bottoms up," Will spoke as he tipped the glass even more, sending it rushing down my mouth faster than I would have liked. My throat was too busy swallowing it all in time to let my tongue get a good taste of the stuff. As the glass began to empty I felt my senses numb, as if I were nothing for the moment, only to be rejuvenated moments after.

"…Wow!" I shook my head as I recoiled back with a hop in my seat, "what's in this stuff anyways?" My focus shifted over from the glass to Will.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Will said suggestively as he lounged back in his seat.

"No, really… What's in it?" I leaned in, wanting to know.

"Well, on a serious note… I really don't know Gus…" The cocoadile shrugged without a clue.

"Hmm… I guess that's not important, what matters is that I'm wide awake!" I placed my glass back on the table and hopped off my seat.

"True…" Will shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of his drink.

"I'll talk to you later Will, I have to meet Phil down in the hangar," I said walking backwards towards the door.

"I understand," The cocoadile replied as if he already knew what was coming, but I guess we were all back in the swing of things now that I was pretty much one of the crew. After waving goodbye to Will, I turned myself around, nearly colliding into a fizzlybear. He cussed at me and told me to 'watch it' as I slid my card through the door and bolted inside.

Nearly flying down the stairs, I rushed into the hangar, determined not to keep Phil waiting any longer. Too bad for me, the hangar was still a mechanical mess with vehicles everywhere, making my search just as hard as last time.

"Phil? …Phil?" I called out, keeping my eyes peeled and my ears open for a response.

"Gus?" I heard the fudgehog call back, "Gus I'm right here!" I followed his voice to the back of one of the G-C's. Once I met up with Phil, I saw that he wasn't alone. Two burly sours accompanied him, one a mallowolf and the other a cocoadile.

"Gus! You're earlier than yesterday!" Phil's lips grew into a proud smile.

"I am?" I glanced nervously at the sours for a brief moment.

"Yes, now that you're all here I can brief you on your mission-,"

"We already know what we're doing," The cocoadile cut the sentence short as he jumped into the G-C, "just brief the kid so we can get our asses in gear," he grumbled harshly as he started the engine.

"Of course…" Phil rolled his eyes as he hunched over slightly in annoyance.

"Well what's the big plan for today sir?" I asked with a grin on my face.

"I pulled some strings to get you into a patrol squad, Gus. I'm sure you're ready for this, and don't worry, the guys here'll give you some pointers and survival tips if you get bored," The fudgehog motioned with his thumb to the two sours.

"Alright," I nodded, taking another glance at them. They both seemed highly intimidating. "_Geez, you think he'd put me with someone I'd be more comfortable around…_" I shuddered as I wished the strange piñatas away.

"Don't worry, they won't hurt you," Phil placed a paw on my shoulder to assure his statement.

"Yeah kid," The mallowolf walked over and placed his paw on my other shoulder, "If anything, the old man here had us hired for your protection," his statement earned him a swift kick in the ankle from the fudgehog himself.

"Huh?" I wondered why Phil had did that as the Mallowolf winced a bit.

"Nothing Gus… It doesn't concern you," Phil cleared his throat and gave the mallowolf a stern glare.

"Well… Alright," I shrugged and walked along with the mallowolf who kept pace with the slow moving G-C which worked it's way towards the far corner of the hangar.

"Good luck men," I turned my head and caught a glimpse of Phil, who was saluting us with a look of admiration, I couldn't help but feel slightly important.

"So, I hear your name's Gus," The mallowolf spoke with a friendly tone. I nodded my head in response, afraid to say anything myself. "I'm Allen," he held out a paw as the vehicle stopped.

"Nice to meet you… Allen," I was expecting his name to be somewhat more… Fitting of himself. But I guess _Allen_ wasn't a bad name either. My lips expressed a smile as I shook his paw in a newfound confidence.

"You better hang on Gus," Allen released my paw and warned me as I felt the ground beneath us shift briefly.

"Hm?" I glanced down at the floor and noticed that we were being raised into the air by an elevator.

"Don't worry," Allen patted me on the back a few times, "You'll get used to it," my eyes brushed over the mallowolf and up above, where a corner of the ceiling parted open for us. Exposing us to the daylight.

"It's… It's been awhile since I've seen the sun," I spoke aloud.

"I know the feeling bud," The mallowolf chuckled in agreement as we all closed the distance. I hid behind my gun for a brief moment, afraid of what the unknown had held. "It's alright Gus, it's just gonna be another slow day," Allen sighed in apathy as I peeked over my gun, re-familiarizing myself with the wasteland that surrounded me. The discouraging environment that held despair more than anything, A ground that held no hope in it's cracks, craters, and ruin.

"What the hell happened…?" I nearly dropped my gun as I actually took in the sight this time.

"War, Gus… War happened," the mallowolf replied as the engine of the G-C revved,

"If you don't mind, I'm gonna go on ahead," The cocoadile said as he revved the engine once again.

"I'm not holding you back Anders," Allen collected a few weapons from the back of the vehicle and waved the cocoadile off. The sour let out a deathly sounding battle cry as the tires squealed against the metal elevator panel and within a few moments, the G-C was out of sight.

"Goddamn…" Allen fell to his knees looking at the burn marks that tarnished the elevator, "I just scrubbed this thing yesterday!" He growled through this clenched teeth, reminding me he wasn't all soft.

"I'll… I'll clean it off when we're done," I suggested in an attempt to calm him down and hopefully not get my head shot off in what could be his blind fury.

"… You'd do that?" The sour glanced up at me in disbelief, "no one's done me any favors before," Allen climbed to his feet.

"No-no it's nothing," I chuckled nervously as the mallowolf tossed me a laser rifle.

"Anyways, you better prepare yourself. It maybe vacant, but we at least always get one group of obnoxious misfits or another with their guns blazing," Allen readied his automatic as it clacked, letting us know it was loaded and dangerous.

"I see," I gazed around at the destruction surrounding us to the boundless horizon. My senses began to dull as I started to circle around and around again with my eyes looking ahead, lost in the hopelessness around me. I nearly launched out of my mache as a turret materialized from the floor below.

"Sorry I'm late guys," Evan's voice buzzed from the machine.

"It's alright, glad you could make it Evan, you always seem to make the time fly by," I spotted a smile developing on the mallowolf's lips. My face scowled as I mumbled quietly about how Evan could have warned us before just coming out of no where.

"I apologize, I won't be able to talk much today either, I'm still working on that project," Evan said calmly.

"Ah… I won't be too much of a bother then…" Allen sighed in a depressive manner, I felt sorry for him.

"I could talk to you… If you like that is," I offered, hoping I wouldn't get rejected harshly.

"…Gus!" The mallowolf looked over his shoulder and stared at me for a moment before fully facing me, "Seriously, you're becoming quite a lifesaver,"

"It-… It's nothing," I felt my cheeks flush as I sensed the impression of importance returning to me again.

"No Gus, I'd die of boredom if I had no one to talk to!" His eyes widened as he exclaimed.

"Die of… Boredom?" Was it even possible?

"Yes!" Allen took in a deep breath and cooled down, "anyways… Tell me, what was your past life like? You know, before END," The mallowolf sat down on the metal plated floor.

"Well… To be honest, I kinda miss it," I sat across from him, still at arms reach though.

"It must have been nice, huh," I had Allen's full attention.

"Eh… It was at least better than this wasteland, but I've got to admit, I love the hospitality below," I grinned, recalling all the new things I've tried down there, and all the friends I've made.

"Everyone does kid," the sour let out a low chuckle of agreement, "best to enjoy it now, don't know how long it'll last," the high tech golden colored bracer on his arm began emitting a static like noise. The sound caused my ears to flick around a bit to get used to it. Allen let out a confirmed hum as he brought the bracer up near his face and pressed one of the many buttons on it.

"Allen, it's Anders…" You could hear an automatic rifle going off in the background behind the cocoadile's voice, "there's a huge wave of sours coming your way, I'm doing my best to mow most of 'em down for 'ya," A few bloodcurdling screams sounded off after.

"I got ya," Allen nodded and turned the communications off, quickly acting to arm himself. In preparedness, he glanced at me and said, "you better be ready kid, I don't want to have to drag your body into a hole."

I responded in silence by readjusting my grip on the laser rifle that had hung idly in my paws. Both of us had kept our eyes open for anything that would pose a threat… Or anything that flashed red seeing as our enemies were sours.

We sat there staring at the horizon as my eyes began to burn from all the stress I've put on them. I almost overlooked what the mallowolf was up to as he pressed another button on his bracer and brought the screen right up in his eyes. He then gazed inside as if he were looking for something inside.

"I see them, arms ready. Evan! Wake up! We have company!" Allen rallied up the crew as he removed the bracer from his sights and readied his weapon. The turret beside us reactivated noisily as it moved about in place.

"All functions online, ready for action," Evan's voice announced as the barrels of the turret aimed in the same direction the mallowolf was facing. Unfortunately, I was the only one who wasn't prepared for battle.

I kept my sights to where my allies were pointing their weapons and it was as if I was back in the driving simulation again. Except this time I was without a vehicle. Five beat up and defaced G-C's came charging our way with guns blazing. Three of the G-C's had sours riding outside of the vehicles, their weapons too going off at us.

Instinctively, I took cover behind the biggest thing I could. In this case, it was Allen. "Show some backbone kid, you're making us look bad!" The mallowolf barked at me as he returned fire. My ears rang as Evan's turret released two rockets, which took instantly took out two of the vehicles. The few piñata's riding on top of one of the recently totaled G-C's were greatly injured, but this didn't mean they were totally defenseless. Those who still had a grip on their weapons remained persistent with destroying us.

"Reloading, cover me!" Evan ordered as the mallowolf continued to return fire.

"Make yourself useful kid," Allen barked as his tail nearly pushed me over. I knew if I didn't actually make an attempt at fighting back, there was going to be a good chance that I'd receive a personal beating from the muscular mallowolf.

Inching away from the mallowolf slowly, I aimed my gun carefully at one of the oncoming vehicles and closed my eyes as I pulled the trigger, I couldn't handle the thought of taking another's life, even if they were out to kill me.

"Look out!" I heard Evan yell as the sound and force of bypassing missiles flew by me and took out two other vehicles. The powerful gust of wind nearly drove me into the ground, luckily I was able to keep balance by grabbing onto Allen who stood like a statue against the pressure.

"Heretic!" One of the enemy sours bellowed out as he went plowing into the ground from the explosion.

"Hmph…" The mallowolf growled as if he acknowledged what the sour shouted at him.

"H-heretic… What is he talking-"

"Silence and focus on the enemy!" Allen jabbed me with his tail again. I didn't need another warning to know that I needed to concentrate on stopping the attack. Once again I was firing with my eyes close, but I knew the other two were doing more of the work.

"Get down!" Allen's voice ordered as he tackled me to the ground. My eyes shot open and all I could remember seeing was the enemy G-C tumbling in the air almost making contact with us. I watched it intensely as it slammed into the ground near us and barrel rolled to a stop, ending upside-down.

"Sorry guys, I'm out," I heard Evan cuss as turned my attention to the turret, which was now decapitated unable to fight until someone came by to repair it.

"S'alright," the mallowolf coughed as he lifted himself up, helping me up with his tail, "at least we're safe and they're finished," he strapped the gun over his shoulder and brushed off his paws as the clinking of metal on metal neared our feet.

"Gre-Gre… Grenade!" I cried out as soon as I turned around and recognized it. Allen only growled as he batted it away using his tail. The small explosive was returned to the newly ruined G-C. The ground shook slightly as the grenade went off, ensuring whoever was alive in the vehicle was now dead.

"Thanks for the heads up… Gus," Allen said as if he were force to, but he had the respect to call me by name this time.

"No…No problem sir," I stilled addressed him as so as we both watched our G-C come back to us, all banged up and bloodied. "A-Anders is back sir!" I stated the obvious with great enthusiasm. However the mallowolf only nodded and watched as the G-C drive up next to us. It's windshield wipers engaged, slinging the blood from the glass onto us.

"Eww…" I responded, grossed out if not already shaken.

The driver's window slid down as Ander's replied, "what's so gross 'bout a messy meal?" He was the only one laughing at his sadistic joke. Allen didn't seem so happy to see his friend in one piece.

"Gus," the mallowolf called for me, not taking his stern eyes off of Anders, "you're dismissed," he waved me off, still not even bothering to look at me. I stepped back onto the descending elevator and heard the mallowolf unleashed a verbal fury onto the poor cocoadile. It had something to do with letting five enemy vehicles by and endangering our lives. Especially how important it was that I remained in once piece. The hole in the ceiling closed shut before I could hear Ander's point of view of the situation.

"Gus, what are you doing back so soon?" I heard Phil's voice as the elevator came to stop as it grounded itself. "…You look awful, what happened?" I turned around to see his horrified face, gawking at me as if I were a mass murderer. Surveying myself over, I could see why, I was in desperate need of a shower with all the sour blood on me.

"I was dismissed," I simply stated, making my way out of the hangar.

"No… I mean, what happened out there, it looked like you've been out there for years!" Phil stopped me, grasping me by the shoulders.

"We did what we were supposed to do!" I yelled back tossing away my rifle, not wanting to discuss the matter anymore. My short rage left Phil speechless as a few spectators watched me leave the area.

My eyes searched out for my friends as soon as I entered the lounge, not because I wanted to talk to someone. It was quite the opposite, I needed to know where they were so I could avoid them. Right away I spotted out Will, who I assumed was _still _at the bar.

"_Geez, don't they make that guy do ANYTHING_?" I had thoughts of jealously raging through my mind as I tired my best to calmly make my way upstairs.

"Hey Gus!" The familiar sound made my eyelids scrunch up in regret for not waiting until Will was totally distracted. Letting out a deep sigh, I decided to ignore him for now, I could come up with an excuse later. "Where ya goin'?" He called out a bit louder as I resumed to climbing up the stairs. "Gus…" I heard his voice using a hint of whine, which evoked a twinge of guilt to build up again, how I hated the feeling. But I decided to fight it, a shower would certainly relieve me of this feeling faster, I was sure of it.

I walked up to the shower room door and opened it… Or at least tired to, it was locked once again. So I knocked, pretty aggressively at that too.

"God! What is it _now_?" I heard Kayla's voice cuss out a chain of words.

"_Speaking of slackers… I haven't seen _her_ do anything productive except scrub her lazy ass…_" I growled as the idea popped into my head.

"Calm down, geez," I heard the door unlock from the other side and parted open soon after. "Oh… It's you…" She examined me for a few moments before passing me, placing a brief paw on my shoulder, leaving me in total confusion. I felt up the shoulder she touched, it tingled, yet it felt familiar. It urged a small smile out of me as I entered the shower room.

Closing and locking the door behind me, I took comfort in the solitude. Just like last time, I surveyed myself over in the mirror. All the blood that covered me yanked at my stomach, I was too much for me to look at. Shaking my head at my reflection, I stepped inside the shower and pulled both levers at the same time.

My body began to relax as the warm water washed the blood away. The scaring and traumatizing events seemed to wash away as well once tranquility settled in. I was even comfortable enough to try a new button on the control panel.

A foam came out just like before, though this time a more baked sugary scent came with it. It was even more difficult not to eat it.

I struggled a few times, but the reminder of yesterday's distasteful experience helped me persevere. Switching back to regular water, the lathered up foam washed away with ease, except without all the build up of last time. All of me felt renewed as I cut off the water and ended my shower. The cool air greeted me as soon as I opened the stall door.

Stepping out, I glanced myself over once again in the mirror, all signs of the bloodbath were now gone. My worries were put to rest knowing I wouldn't be cursed with the stains remaining in my mache forever. I reached for a towel and dried off as quickly as I could. My paws brushed out my hair the best they could. The last thing I needed was Tess attacking my scalp again, that was pain at a whole new level. After I was content with my appearance, I disposed of my towel and headed out the door.

"_I bet Will's still at the lounge_," I concluded as I took the stairs down. However my assumption was proven wrong as he was totally gone. As I took my seat, I battled inner feelings of loneliness. The android came by and before it could speak I drearily ordered it to get me a glass of water. I was granted a glass of the crystal clear liquid seconds later.

"Gus! Gus!" A voice called out for me. Turning around, I seen it was Phil, probably wanting to chew me out for the way I acted, but that assumption too was proven wrong as the fudgehog went on. "I'm glad I found you. Look, I'm sorry that you had to go through things like that so suddenly… I-"

"It's alright…" I sipped on my water as Phil took a seat next to me.

"No, it's not… I… I rigged your team Gus, it was just supposed to be a idle watch, nothing out of the ordinary and both of your squad mates knew that," the fudgehog's words almost made me choke on my drink.

"So… What you're saying is, An…Anders, let the sours go by?" I tried to see why the cocoadile would if he knew what he was doing. I mean a _rigged_ team like that should at least know what's going on and be able to assist any situation the best the can when the time calls for it.

"Well, no one can prove that, I talked to the guy myself, and he says there were at least quadruple that when he ran into them," Phil leaned against the table and sighed.

"So either the sours were too strong for him… Or Anders was acting with the sours for that very moment…" I hypothesized out loud.

"Shhh… Don't mention names Gus…" the fudgehog put a finger to my lips and glanced about worriedly, hoping no one was listening in on our conversation.

"Sorry…" I muttered apologetically as the fudgehog retracted his paw back, "but still… what's your take on the situation?"

"I… I'm not one to judge my soldiers Gus. But it's not to say I don't have someone looking into this matter," Phil replied somewhat hesitantly.

"Let me guess… You have Will sticking his big nose into this?" I smiled a bit.

"Shhh… Gus I told you, no names!" Phil glared at me, this time his paw balled up into a fist, threatening to use physical force to silence me if necessary.

"I understand… I'll stop talking now…" I turned away and focused my vision on my half empty glass of water.

"…Just don't worry about it Gus," the fudgehog patted me on the back, "we'll figure things out soon enough," And with that he left.

I couldn't help but become more paranoid about well… Everyone in this base. Especially Anders, but I kept anymore smart ideas to myself this time. I didn't need to get beaten up, whether it be by Phil or another piñata, I had enjoyed myself here and I didn't need to make out a bad name for myself. But… Just because I was new here didn't mean I could just lay low. I was a member of END, newbie or not, and I needed to know what was going on around here… Whether it be mutiny or just a simple accident, it'd be best to know now rather than to regret it later.

"Gus…" Tess' voice chimed in as she claimed the seat Phil had sat in minutes ago. "I heard what happened," Apparently rumors get around fast here…

"Yeah? What about it?" I didn't feel all up about talking about it.

"Don't be like that Gus… You almost lost your life out there," her paw stroked my back a few times, sending a tingle up my spine with each one.

"True… But at least I'm safe now," I tried to end the topic as fast as I could.

"Yes, but for how long Gus? …I know I met you just a few days ago, but… It feels like I've known you for a long time…" Her words struck me awkward as I was left speechless. "I just don't want to lose you," I sat there in silence until a few moments later another voice butted in.

"Looks like you got a girl after you Gus," I heard Ryan comment as he sat down. I glanced over at him with the same dull eyes. "Sorry, I couldn't help but listen in."

"Hey! At least give us some privacy here!" Tess scowled at the pieena.

"Heh, if you wanted that, it'd be best to talk in the bathroom or shower room, you won't find that kind of luxury here," the pieena shrugged as the android greeted him with the same question as it'd give everyone. I couldn't catch the words of what Ryan said to it, but it was probably some foreign drink like _beer_ oran _energy drink_.

"…I guess…" The pink pretztail couldn't do nothing but agree.

"Don't be so down, I hear Evan's progress in his work is almost done," Ryan boasted as if it would cheer us all up automatically.

"…I heard what he's making could greatly turn the tide in this war," Tess spoke as I took another drink out of my glass.

"It's true! But the problem is…" The Pieena hesitated slightly before going on, "Evan needs someone to deliver to the END base up north."

"Really? What's so important up in the mountains?" Tess pondered the question.

"There's other scientists up there, other materials up there that we don't have down here," The pieena received a blue tinted liquid in a large glass from the mechanical bartender.

"I see…" The pretztail nodded in acknowledgement.

"And get this, everyone who has the balls for it has put in their name in hopes of being chosen to bring it all the way there themselves, either with an intention of actually ending the war… Or in an attempt of becoming a bigger part of history. You know how famous a pinata could be if they were the one who transported the weapon that had the potential to end the war?" Ryan gloated over the possibility.

"Well it doesn't have potential yet…" I interjected with an obvious statement.

"True, true… But still, think about it," The pieena replied.

"I think you're just in it for the fame…" I couldn't help but say.

"Well… Not entirely, I can't enjoy the fame until this war is truly over," Ryan laughed at his own joke as Tess and I were left in an angered silence. "Anyways…" Ryan chugged down the rest of his drink with a swiftness I've never seen before. I believed he was going to choke from draining it too fast! "I better get back to work," Ryan departed from his seat and left us to ourselves.

"Geez, what an asshole," Tess muttered under her breath incase Ryan could still hear us.

"Hah… I really hope he doesn't get picked to do the job, just out of spite and an urge to see his reaction," I grinned a bit, thinking about the scenario.

Tess giggled at my statement and replied, "I'd like to see that as well," the pretztail turned her stool to face me fully. "Anyways…"

"Yes?" I stood still with only my face directed at her.

"You know what Ryan said, about a girl being after you?" Her cheeks began to blush.

"Yeah… What do you mean? Who's after me?" I raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was trying to say.

"I am silly," my face remained unchanged to her reply. "I mean you don't mind… If-"

"Mind about what?" I asked, becoming more confused.

"Mind that if I was your girlfriend," Tess was extremely red now.

"Girl- Girlfriend? Aren't you already my friend?" She grew more embarrassed as I grew more puzzled.

"Yes… But you know, more than friends?" She smiled slightly behind all that awkwardness she must be feeling.

"More than friends…? I don't get it," I shrugged as Tess' face came closer to mine. Her lips soon completely covering mine. I almost fell out of my seat as Tess retracted herself back to her own.

"I… I see," Tess turned herself back to the table, facing away from me.

"See what?" my paws felt up my lips, wondering what the hell just happened.

"…That you're not interested, I'm sorry that I did that," Tess apologized as I could see she was trying so hard not to breakdown crying.

"No-no… It's alright," My eyes were still on her as I drew my paws back from my face.

"You mean… You'd want to be my boyfriend?" Tess looked back, as if she were confused about this all as well.

"Aren't I already your friend?" This was really getting no where…

"Forget it…" Tess waved my question away and left dejectedly. Not wanting to see her upset again, I went after her.

"No, what is it?" I placed my paws on her shoulders and turned her around to face me.

She sighed and took a moment of silence before going on, "Gus… It's just that I really like you… More than a friend, and I was hoping we… We could be more than just that…" the pink pretztail turned red again.

"Well… I don't mind," but to be honest… I had no idea what was going on… How could piñatas be… More that just friends? It didn't make sense to me, but I guess if Tess wanted to, I couldn't find the heart to say no.

"You mean you… Want to?" Tess wanted a confirmation.

"Y-yes…" I drew my paws back as she hugged me abruptly.

"Ooof…" I found my paws embracing her, just not as tight.

"Thank you Gus…" She kissed me on the cheek and left upstairs without another word.

"Geez… I… I don't get it," I found myself saying aloud.

"Looks like a lucky someone has got themselves a girl," Will's voice caught me from behind.

"Girlfriend? But… Aw, forget it…" I turned around to face the cocoadile, not wanting to debate the situation anymore.

"It's alright Gus… Tess is the one for you anyways…" He pulled me towards the couches that were set in the middle of the lounge and sat me down in one of them, soon taking a seat next to me, "I mean she's sweet, caring, sensitive, and yet has the power to keep you in line," Will laughed heartily, however his face was still set as stone.

"The one…? The one for what?" I was beginning to think that accepting Tess' offer was a bad idea.

"For you!" Will slap his paw against his muzzle as if I were a thick headed moron. Maybe I was for getting myself into this mess.

"I don't get it though!" I yelled back, more confused than I've ever been in my life.

"Okay, let me put it in terms you might understand," Will took in a deep breath as he began to speak a bit slower than before, "You and Tess are going out now, Tess likes you, probably more than you like her. She's your girlfriend now, so that means you two are lovey-dovey, and that means you're off limits to other girls,"

"You mean I can talk to anymore girls?" I scratched my head in perplexity.

"No! It means you can go flirtin' around with any other girls, and that also means Tess can't go for other guys, you two are devoted to each other," Will explained, clearing things up a bit more.

"Devoted? What do you mean?" I asked.

"As in you two got to look out for each other, be there for each other when the other needs them to be," Will went on with his explanation.

"Isn't that what END is for?" my statement cause Will to slap himself again.

"Well aren't you the clever one… No, it's not like the END, it's about tending to physical and emotional needs of the other,"

"I still don't entirely get it…" I gazed at the ground as I shook my head.

"Don't worry Gus, as long as you don't screw this up, your love life is paved in gold, trust me," the cocoadile patted me on back and parted ways, saying nothing more.

"_Love life? …Sound important_," I pondered the idea for awhile before heading back upstairs myself. My eyes scanned one of the digital wall clocks, it was pretty late in the night… And tomorrow's just another day to get sent outside again. A sigh passed through my lips as I walked into the bunk room.

"What the-…" I silenced myself as I seen that Tess was napping in my bed.

"_This… is awkward… Where am I gonna sleep_?" I thought about it for a short while before I concluded with the idea of sleeping in _her_ bed! However, Tess had called me over before I could even reach it.

"Yes?" I asked as I walked up to the pretztail, who only replied with a motion for me to climb in as well. It was uncomfortable, but I didn't go against it. Tess wrapped her arms around me as I slid myself between the sheets. The act felt so wrong, but Tess' body warmth convinced me otherwise.

"Good night Gus…" She said before kissing my forehead.

"G-good night," I shivered as she snuggled her head into my chest. And we both rested in silence, or at least Tess was able to. My body was too paralyzed from what was going on to move or relax. Unable to sleep, I decided listening to idle chat should pass the time. Unfortunately, it was more idle than I thought, just a "hello" or "how are you doing?" "Oh fine" or something along those lines. That is until I heard Kayla's booming voice echo across the halls.

"What is this nonsense!" She shouted suddenly.

"Calm down, we have recruits sleeping!" Phil's voice hushed the mallowolf's.

"Grrr, I won't stand for being paired up with a bumbling failure!" Kayla growled.

"I said cool it. And he's not a _bumbling failure_, he's been improving greatly since he's been here," the fudgehog replied.

"I'd rather do this mission alone!" The mallowolf counted.

"I can't let you go alone, this mission requires backup, sending one pinata out there alone is a joke, and besides, you can bond with him on the way there," Phil laughed.

"Yeah, well your backup's a liability! Give me someone else who actually knows what their's doing!" Kayla argued back.

"Trust me on this, he's a fast learner, you can teach him anything and he'll learn!"

"No, I won't allow it!" I could picture Kayla crossing her arms.

"Can you just accept he's your son and get over it already?" Phil retorted.

"That pissant coward is not my son!" She countered back harshly.

"Well like it or not, it's the way things are," Phil stomped off, having nothing else to say. My eyes stayed fixated on the door as I consoled Tess. In fact she was sleeping soundly through the whole verbal storm surprisingly and I envied her for that. The pink pretztail adjusted herself slightly before releasing a small warm sigh into my chest. I tried not to recoil as it tickled greatly. Instead, I closed my eyes and attempted to try and sleep.


	4. DAY 3: A Journey to the END… Base

-1**DAY 3: A Journey to the END… Base**

Though my attempts were to no avail. My eyes shot open as I felt Tess batting my ear with a paw.

"Wake up sleepyhead…" She murmured in a singsong fashion. I slowly opened my eyes as a yawn escaped from my mouth.

"I… I couldn't sleep," I replied as I realized the pink pretztail was sitting on the edge of the bed and that it was her tail that was nagging me awake. I pushed the pompous appendage out of the way as I worked myself up to at least a sitting position.

"Why not?" Tess asked, tilting her head a bit, "I slept just fine."

"Well…" I paused, wondering if I should tell her the truth, "There was some yelling going on outside, it kept me up" I covered it up. Who knows, maybe the next night will be easier for me.

"I didn't hear anything," She continued to give me the same blank expression.

"That's because you sleep like a rock Tess…" I informed her.

"Oh…" She chuckled as her cheeks flushed a bit, "I've been told so…"

"Anyways… What's planned for us today?" I asked.

"Well I still have weapon maintenance duties, as for you… You might want to see the boss about another assignment, you're still a rookie here y'know," Tess answered as she climbed out of bed and walked over to my side to help me up. "You better get going Gus," she said before kissing me on the cheek. I stood there petrified in bewilderment for a few seconds, I didn't even noticed that Tess left until I came back to my senses.

"_Crap! I better get going_!" I panicked as I charged out of the bunk room. Luckily, Phil was in the main room, standing next to Kayla. My sight connected with hers for just a moment, until hers ripped away as soon as she knew it was me.

"Gus! I got a new mission for you!" Phil approached me halfway, he was holding one of the bracers that Allen had on, however this one looked a bit more… Skinnier.

"What is it?" I stood there, hoping it couldn't be more worse than yesterday's.

"You'll see, if you two will follow me…" The fudgehog gestured at Kayla to follow. We both trailed behind the fudgehog, who eventually led us down to the vehicle hangar.

"You two will be taking the G-C-10-10-CR," I gawked at the machine, it was built like a motorized fort. Curiosity got the best of me as I rapped a paw on the dense material. "Gus! Paws to yourself for now!" Phil chewed me out.

"Yes sir… I apologize," I placed my paws behind my back humbly.

"Anyways, you two will be taking this behemoth across no man's land and to the northern END base to deliver our secret weapon," My jaw dropped at the words.

"_Didn't one have to sign up to take this mission… Maybe… Maybe someone signed me up without my consent… But who_?" I contemplated, quickly turning my attention to the fudgehog.

"This is precious cargo you'll be carrying, so the mechanics installed a self-destruct button into the G-C for a last resort… We can't allow this project to fall into the wrong hands, understand?"

"Yes sir," Kayla replied as she nodded. I struggled to swallow the lump in my throat, acknowledging that there's a great chance of dying out there.

"_And I don't even think Tess knows about it… And if she did… Oh, the horrendous things she'd have to say about it…_" I wiped my eyes with both paws as I tried to rid myself of those thoughts.

"You okay Gus?" Phil stepped closer to me.

"I'm fine sir…" I waved him away.

"Tch… Breaking already…" Kayla assumed.

"Hey," Phil turned and scowled at the mallowolf, "You two are working together in this…" Right then it really hit me… I was working with _Kayla_… "So it's best you get along, because if you two fail because of a dispute, I'll drag both of your asses back from hell just to send you back there again!" The angry fudgehog made himself very clear on that.

"Understood," Kayla rolled her eyes, "but remember it was your mistake in the first place," she opened the driver's side door and worked herself up into the seat.

"Are… Are you sure about this boss?" I asked Phil hesitantly, hoping this was all just a mix-up.

"Yes, you'll see why soon. Anyways, for your excellent work yesterday, I got you this," Phil lifted up the bracer I seen him carrying earlier.

"Wha…What is it?" I was eager to try it on and break it in.

"It's a necessity if your going to be out there, that's what," he laughed as he handed it to me.

"What do you mean?" I tried to work my paw into the sleeve, but instead I ended up getting it stuck inside. Thankfully Phil pushed a button on it, parting it open from the bottom, allowing more room for my arm to fit itself inside.

"It's an all in one device basically," He pressed the same button again and this time the bracer constricted itself close around my whole arm giving me a brief, light shock that was almost unnoticeable. It's grasp was firm enough so it didn't bother me with random movement across my arm, but gentle enough to allow full circulation.

"All… In one?" my mind perplexed itself over the possibilities.

"Probably not the way you see it," Phil was reading the excitement on my face. "It has a built in verbal communications system, allowing you to talk to anyone with the same M-W-M…"

"M-W-M?" I recited back.

"'Multipurpose Wrist Module,' M-W-M for short… Anyways, It also give you a status report on your physical condition, letting medics easily know what and where the injury is," Phil began to speak as if he were bragging about it.

"Really…? That's astounding." I glanced over my M-W-M in admiration.

"And that's not all, you won't need this anymore," The fudgehog plucked the communicator from my ear.

"Hey I need that!" I grasped the air as I lunged for it back.

"No you don't," Phil replied with a smirk.

"Yes I do! …Wait… I… Don't? I-… I can understand you now? Don't tell me-"

"Yep, A built-in translator as well," Phil threw the ear piece far behind him knowing none of us would need it anymore. I flinched instantly as the G-C's engine revved.

"Can you guys hurry it up?" Kayla shouted as the driver's side window rolled down.

"You better get going Gus, if you need help on how to use that, don't be afraid to ask Kayla, she helped invent those things after all," Phil patted me on the back before standing a few steps back. I held my M-W-M close to me as I walked around to the other side of the G-C. The mallowolf almost knocked me unconscious as she swung the passenger side door open, nearly millimeters from my nose. As I climbed in, I swear I caught a smug smile on her lips from what she just pulled off.

"Looks like you're not the blundering moron I first made you out to be… Gus," She called me by my name, which made me feel a bit more comfortable around her.

"Uh… Thanks… Kayla," I replied, buckling myself in.

"Let's get this shit over with then." The unruly mallowolf revved the engine one last time before pulling into the elevator pad. As we made our ascent, Kayla tossed over a plastic bottle. I was too unaware as I couldn't react in time to catch it, instead, it fell into my lap. Examining the red liquid inside, I made it out to be an _energy drink_. "Will told me you might need this, we've got plenty more in the back if you need any," She said without giving me eye contact.

"Yeah, I had trouble sleeping last night," I admitted as I opened the bottle and downed it hastily, but Kayla said nothing as we were greeted with the early morning sun. As the Elevator grounded itself, Kayla took us off into the distance as outrageous speeds. My body was almost devoured by the seat while the empty bottle flew out of my grip, luckily Kayla took her foot off the pedal long enough for me to work myself out before slamming it down again. "Aren't you going a bit too fast?" I warned her.

"Aren't you talking too much?" Kayla countered, "besides, there's no speed limit anymore and I don't want to be here just as much as you don't," She growled as the G-C sped faster. As we made more miles, we encountered a few piñatas. Some fired at us, threw rocks, cussed, you name it. There were even some conflictions with other vehicles, sours probably, who should have thought twice before firing their guns at us. "You know this would be easier if you manned the guns," She complained bitterly.

"How do I do that?" my mind escaped back to the simulation where I activated the turret, but that didn't help the situation at all. The mallowolf sighed angrily as she slammed her paw down on one of the many buttons in front of us. I heard the guns pop out of the top of the G-C and the controls shot out at me from a secret compartment. "Thanks…" I laughed nervously as I grasped my paws around both of the joysticks.

"Meh… Better hope I don't have to repeat myself…" She grumbled as I gazed into the screen between my controls, seeing what the gun was seeing. I was so engrossed with the point of view, I didn't even notice my M-W-M going off with static. I looked into the screen and recognized it was Tess trying to contact me, I went through a handful of different buttons and switches before I was able to get through.

"Gus?… Gus you there?" Gus!" Tess' voice finally broke through.

"Tess, it's me, I'm here!" I responded joyously.

"Gus! …Where the hell are you?" Her tone changed drastically.

"I'm… I'm with Kayla, We're delivering the… Project," I code-worded it.

"What?" Tess shouted loudly, causing minor feedback, "Gus! I thought you weren't gonna do that!" I could hear her voice begin to weaken.

"Me too, but here I am anyways…" I shrugged my shoulders as I replied.

"Gus… Don't lie to me…" Her voice choked up as I could picture tears trailing down her eyes.

"I'm not! This was one hundred percent beyond my decision! Believe me!" I argued.

"What if you don't come back Gus?" She countered.

"I… I have Kayla here, she can handle anything," as I mentioned that the mallowolf chuckled.

"And I can't? Why couldn't you at least bring me?" She whined.

"As I said Tess, it wasn't my decision, if you want to argue about it, take it up with Phil!" I found myself getting angry with her.

"Gus…" That was all I heard before the communications clicked out.

"Harsh…" Kayla interjected into my confusion.

"…What do you care?" I lashed out bitterly as I returned to the controls. The rest was spent in silence until we ran into more trouble, or should I say trouble ran into us. Practicing around with the controls was pretty entertaining, and it really loosened up all the negative emotions I was feeling. However I began to feel remorse for my victims as I realized I was killing other piñatas.

"…You alright?" Kayla easily sought out my emotional change.

"No… I'm not," I admitted to her, letting go of the controls with a sorrowful sigh.

"Well killing some more scumbags'll fix that," Kayla laughed dryly.

"No… That's the problem, I don't have it in me to kill others…" I explained, giving her my full attention.

"Well that's not good…" the mallowolf kept her eyes on the distance ahead.

"Hm… Why not?" I tilted my head slightly.

"Well this is a kill or be killed world we're in right now. It's best to adapt while you still can. You do, or you die, simple eh?" She said. It was sadistic, but true sadly.

"Well… Why couldn't've Phil put me in something like weapon maintenance or something like that?" I asked as Kayla made road kill out of an unfortunate piñata.

"Because he sees something in you… To be honest, we all do… Including me," her words surprised me.

"Well what is it? Because I'm sure I don't see what you guys are…" I shook my head and gazed back out into the horizon.

"Potential, Gus," Kayla summed it up.

"But… I don't want to do this, killing's not in my nature," I closed my eyes, afraid of what I was being force into.

"It wasn't in mine either to be honest… But then I learned the hard way," and for the first time, I saw sadness in her eyes, but it was gone as soon as it appeared.

"The hard way… Will that become of me too?" I questioned more to myself than to Kayla.

"Maybe, it depends on what you do with yourself here," the mallowolf replied, leaving me speechless. I searched myself desperately for a topic to talk about, but I came up empty, there was nothing of relevance to bring up. Defeated, I guided my paws back to the controls and braced myself for the unexpected…

"What? Almost out of gas?" Kayla shouted once an hour or so had passed by.

"Hm? What's wrong?" I shook myself from the hypnotizing controls and faced the mallowolf.

"The gas is almost gone moron, what do ya think?" She growled as she brought the G-C to a stop.

"Gus, I'm going to check the back for any emergency gas, _don't_ fuck around while I'm gone," Kayla made her statement clear.

"Yes… Ma'am" I caught myself almost saying 'sir'… I could only imagine the trouble I'd be in if I let that slip out. I returned my focus onto the controls again, keeping an eye out for would be attackers or other threats. In mere moments Kayla returned, in a more sour mood then when she left.

"Hm?" I looked at her blankly.

"Fucking Ryan…" She cussed, yanking the door shut swiftly, creating a loud metallic crash.

"What about Ryan? What happened?" I almost didn't want to ask.

"Damned Pieena puts in everything 'cept extra _gas_! I swear, whenever I see the Pieena, he's always sitting on his ass," she complained about her fellow soldier's efforts. I wanted to cool her fury in someway… And sometime before she ripped my head off in her heated anger. But I only found myself in speechless silence.

Then I found myself saying, "Are we going to be stranded here?" Kayla gazed at me with her enraged expression and then suddenly cooled down.

"No… There's a secret refueling station in the rubble town up ahead, I believe we can make it there… If not… We'll have to push the vehicle there, which I really don't want to do," the mallowolf put the vehicle in motion again.

"Where is that located?" I requested to know.

"Northeast of our current position, if you want to know more look at your module," she said without breaking her attention from driving.

"…How do I do that?" I let out a nervous chuckle as I tinkered around with my arm's contraption. Kayla responded by pressing a few random buttons on the M-W-M and suddenly a map appeared on the screen. "…Thanks," I said as I scanned and overview of the whole map.

"Don't get too excited, it's only a map of this godforsaken island." She added. I only replied with a nod as I found out how massive this island was from it's measurements. Of course I had no idea how long Remtrii stretched out too, but I never questioned it as I had no reason to travel far.

"You call this an island… It's the size of a continent!" I spoke almost deliriously.

"It's an island, trust me… You're stranded here until this war is over," The G-C picked up speed.

"I see…" I mumbled out 'I guess' under my breath.

"Anyways our supply and refueling points are marked out with green dots," Kayla informed me.

"There's only a few of them…" I pointed out.

"We may be advanced, but we're not rich…" she countered.

"Alright…" I shrugged it off and returned to my turret duties.

There wasn't that may baddies during the trip there, but Kayla stopped just as we hit the passageway to the ruined town.

"I'm engaging the cloaking device," She flipped a switch, but I saw nothing happen.

"The what?" I gave Kayla a funny look, wondering what she was talking about.

"It makes us invisible to anyone outside the vehicle… Look this is a slum we're about to enter here," She pointed to the distance with a finger. I gazed out in her guided direction, the contents inside reminded me some of Remtrii, except it was less populated.

"But then why do we need the cloaking device?" I couldn't see a reason.

"This town's filled with beggars and bandits, if you're not one you're the other… We don't need our vehicle mobbed," She clarified as I nodded, understanding completely, but one thing was still bugging me…

"Why did you put a refueling station here anyways?" I brought up a valid point.

"Don't ask me, I never set up this flawed system anyways…" Kayla shrugged as she stomped down on the gas pedal, pushing me back into my seat again. As the mallowolf drove, she ran down a few unaware piñatas, which made me hope there were no witnesses to the scene. I could just imagine the insanity that could erupt from conceiving a once living piñata having the life knocked out of them from an unseen force… A shiver drove down my spine as I tried to imagine it.

"Kayla… How do you know no one's tried to raid the refueling point before?" I shouted over the roar of the engine.

"It's inaccessible to those who don't have an ID card or a module," Kayla explained.

"So no one's guarding it?" I pressed my questioning further.

"Who needs to guard something that's made of one of the hardest synthetic materials out there?" She let out a chuckle as a fudgehog's guts were splattered all over the windshield.

"…That never ceases to disgust me," I admitted as Kayla engaged the windshield wipers, ridding us of most of the repulsiveness.

"You're gonna have to get used to it if you're with me," the mallowolf said as we started to slow down, nearing a dead end.

"…Is this it?" I peered closer, leaning from my seat as much as the forces going against me would allow.

"Yep," Kayla said as we stopped in front of a metallic wall that was covered in concrete destruction. The cloaking disabled itself as the mallowolf descend from the vehicle, soon to display her M-W-M to a large red tinted lens near the wall. And with that, the wall parted from the middle, allowing us access inside.

"Amazing…" I gawked at the sight as Kayla hopped back in, steadily guiding us inside. Once we were all the way inside, Kayla jumped out again and closed the metallic gate in the same manner using the identifier that was placed inside.

"Well what are ya sitting around for?" Kayla pried open the door and unbuckled my seatbelt. "Help me pack up and refuel!" She barked at me as she sprang from the vehicle and onto the ground. I got out of the G-C and followed her, unsure on what to pack.

"There's a bathroom over there," Kayla pointed to a door a few wooden boxes away, "I suggest you go now, I'm not gonna stop just for you to take a piss."

"Alright," I sneaked over to the bathroom before Kayla could order something else at me. Inside, there was only a toilet and sink, all stuffed in a cramped up room, this was much more confined than the shower stall. "_Well it's better than nothing_," I concluded as I sat on the toilet seat. To pass the time, I checked over my module again. It notified me that I had a voice message and a missed call. Tapping the screen with a finger, I found out it was Tess trying to contact me. Wasting no time, I pressed the screen again to listen to it.

"Gus… Look," She started out, "I'm sorry I overreacted like that. I mean, when I heard the news straight from your mouth, it was sudden and unexpected, I just couldn't focus my thoughts. But now that all this information's sunk in, I understand. I understand why you'd be chosen for something like this. I… I didn't mean to make you mad…You don't have to tell me that we're over, I get it…"

"Wait- No!" I rapidly prodded the screen to stop the message and to contact Tess back. "Tess! Tess pick up!"

However Tess hadn't answered, instead I got a response from a electronic voice that said, "This person is not available right now, please leave a message after the beep," and a high pitched beep followed, I stammered a bit before I actually started.

"Tess, I should be the sorry one, I shouldn't have gotten mad, you were right to be surprised… _I _was the one who overreacted. Please, don't blame yourself for this…" I paused as I felt a tight, clasping feeling in my chest… What was this desperate emotion I was feeling? "I… I just want to see you again…" I found myself ending with a sigh, ending the communications at that.

"_Who am I kidding? She's not gonna call back…_" I shook my head as I finished up on the toilet.

"Hey, if you're done talking to your imaginary friend could you hurry it up in there," Kayla said as she knocked on the door.

"I'm almost done!" I flushed and quickly washed up. Sorrow began to eat at me as I exited the room. Kayla brushed past me as she closed the door behind her, leaving me to myself. My eyes were fixated at the ground in a sense of despair as I slowly walked back to the G-C. However, the emotion quickly changed as I picked up the sound of a young infant crying.

"Shh-shh, Just for a bit longer…" A female's voice attempted to hush the child.

"Who's there?" I approached the sound, which was surrounded by a small fortress of wooden boxes. The only response was from the bawling infant. "I'm not going to hurt you, I'd like to help," I began to wonder if I was going insane.

"You… You promise?" A male voice responded this time.

"Perry! Shh!" The female voice spoke again.

"No, honey, I believe we can trust this guy,"

"…Uh, sure… You guys okay?" I called out to the boxes, hoping the life hiding inside would show itself.

"Yes," The male voice replied, "We've taken refuge in here," his response made me question if this place was really impenetrable as Kayla hyped it up to be.

"Okay… How'd you get in anyways?" I asked, itching to know.

"A fudgehog named Phil let us stay here…" He spoke as he emerged from behind some boxes that were on the ground. I never thought those piñata species still exists… I mean I've heard rumors back in Remtrii about the _porchipine_, but all of them dubbed the porchipine as either a dying or extinct race. Their appearance were exactly like fudgehogs, except for their quills that they had on their backs and around their heads, it was what they were eventually hunted for sadly.

"Your…Y-Your…" I stuttered trying to label him.

"A porchipine, I know… Please, I can't afford to be found out," His significant other appeared right behind him, bearing their wailing child in her arms. "So if you could forget you ever saw me…"

"What's this?" I heard Kayla's concern from behind.

"N-nothing…" I spun around and saw her approach.

"That looks a lot like _something_ to me," She smirked as she pushed me aside to get a better look.

"Kayla! Don't hurt them!" I went to grab at her but she shoved me back.

"Well what do we have here?" She spotted out the hiding trio before they could escape into obscurity. She came back holding the father porchipine in the air by his leg. I heard the horrified scream of the mother, but I could only watch as going against Kayla would prove to be a fatal and deadly mistake.

"Put me down!" The father shouted, taking empty swings at the mallowolf.

"You three clearly don't belong here," She hissed at the father.

"Kayla," I calmly said, "Phil let them stay here, besides they're porchipines! Do you know how many are left of them?" I tried to convince her to let them stay.

"Do you know how much I care?" Kayla glared at me as if I were thickheaded, "Phil's just as soft as you for letting them stay," She spoke in a sadistic manner.

"Nh-… No he's not. He supports everything END stands for!" I argued back as the father porchipine gave in as his lungs heaved for more air.

"Yeah, and a little too much more, clearly both of you find more meaning in 'Enders of Notorious Destruction' than I do. I believe it's just that: Putting an end to this war, by any means necessary," She explained with brutal honesty.

"Kayla…" I fell speechless as the infant cried on.

"Now," Kayla pulled a handgun from her waist belt and pointed it at the porchipine's head, "we can do this the easy way or the hard way…" Her gun clicked, readying the bullet for expulsion.

"I'd prefer the easy way please," the porchipine pleaded.

"Smart one," the mallowolf dropped the porchipine on his back, still aiming the gun at him. "Gus, open the other gate," She ordered.

"_If only Phil were here… He could stop this, no one would go against him in his presence…_" I scowled at Kayla, balling up my paws into fists.

"What are you waiting for? If you don't hurry, I'll _make_ this turn into the hard way!" Kayla growled, showing anger and frustration I've never seen before, it turned my own anger into fear within a second. In lost hope and fright, I could no nothing but follow orders. As I opened the gate, I prayed that the porchipines could find another decent refuge… One that Kayla won't evict them from.

The malevolent mallowolf kicked the porchipine in the stomach, "Get on your feet!" she barked at him. I winced at the action, his pain filled bellow explained how much the impact hurt.

"Alright, alright!" The porchipine wheezed, griping at his stomach as he slowly worked himself to a standing position. Kayla put the barrel of her gun to the back of the porchipine's head, reminding him she could end his life if he refused to obey her.

"Gus, get the other two and escort them outside, don't be afraid to use force if you have to… And be careful of their quills," She chuckled dryly as she knocked the butt of her gun against the father's head, "move!" The porchipine whimpered as he slowly limped to the gate.

"Miss… I apologize," I crawled in between the gaps and reached a paw for her, "if it were my decision, I'd let you guys stay…"

"You… You don't understand how dangerous it is out there…" She cuddled up her child against her chest as she inched away.

"I do, I've been in your shoes before- Now please, don't make this any harder than it has to be," I negotiated with her.

"Gus! Hurry up or I'll fix this problem myself!" She roared across the room.

"Please miss, if you can just follow along, I promise I come back to save you from this life," I vowed.

"You… You really promise?" Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yes, you'll have to wait for me though, I'm in the middle of something important, but I promise I'll come back!"

"Oh-…Okay," She scooted closer and offered me her paw. Taking hold of it, I wedge her out between the crevasse.

"Good job Gus," Kayla smiled as she congratulated me unenthusiastically. I wanted to smack the abomination off of her face, but it would have to wait. The mother porchipine hid behind me as we both approached the mallowolf.

"I'll take it from here," Kayla shoved me aside with the back of her paw, grabbing the arm of the mother soon after. "Take the vehicle and follow me out," She glanced back before escorting them both outside.

"Sure…" I sighed as I trotted swiftly to the vehicle and hopped into the driver's side. Starting the engine, I stepped tenderly on the gas pedal. The vehicle crawled steadily past the gate and soon met up with the mallowolf. I put the G-C to a stop and climbed out.

"Close the gate and we're finished here," The tyrannical mallowolf ordered.

"Yes ma'am," I walked over to the identifier, glancing back at the shaken couple. "_If only I were stronger_," I wished as I shut the metallic gate. As I reported back to Kayla the couple were already free from her grasp, running for their lives. "Was that really necessary?" I glared at her with resentment. However my question went unanswered as she boarded the vehicle. A mumble of native cusses slipped through my lips, but the mallowolf was unaffected by them. Buckling in, I sat there, plotting many scenarios of revenge in my head…

As we cleared the ruined town, I felt a little less bitter, and conversation began to return to us.

"We're heading into the desert next," Kayla informed me.

"Why do I need to know this?" I said, still having a bit of resentment in my tone.

"Because of the sand-runners who inhabit it," Kayla replied.

"Sand…Runners?" I wondered what was so important about them.

"Yes, sand-runners, they are an adept race of piñatas that have the ability to travel in and out of the masses of sand, hell knows how they do it though. We figure it's just a step up in evolution," The mallowolf clarified as weather conditions became more dry than usual.

"Crazy… What do these sand-runners look like anyways?" I turned and faced Kayla who was still concentrated on her driving.

"Like any other piñata, except they are of a desert variant, so they're very well camouflaged in their environment," Kayla spoke causally about them.

"So I take it there's no sand-runners in the END then, huh?" I didn't have my hopes up that there were.

"Not a single one, not surprising seeing as they're all just a huge family of thieves," the mallowolf said as I could see desert terrain approaching in the distance.

"Heh, I guess I can see why…" I replied with a nervous chuckle.

"However we do have a darkspawn in the END, though we don't tell this to just anyone…" Kayla let me in on the secret information.

"I guess I'm not just anyone anymore… So who's the darkspawn?" I asked as I listened intensely for an answer.

"Ryan…" Kayla hissed through spiteful teeth.

"Ryan? …You mean the pieena, right?" I wouldn't have assumed him to be a darkspawn.

"Yes, the pieena. And the only reason Ryan was able to get in the END was that Phil and Ryan had a past together… Apparently Ryan wanted to repent from his darkspawn ways… To be honest, I don't trust him. But Phil being the softy, spineless, bonehead he is, took him in without a second thought." She growled as the tires of the G-C began to tread across the sands of the desert.

"Heh… I never thought he'd be a darkspawn, how could you tell he was?" I tried thinking about Ryan's characteristics and features that would make him out to be a darkspawn.

'I didn't," Kayla admitted, "Phil told me after he warmed up to me though, trust is a big thing to him you know…"

"I see… You must trust me to tell me all this," A grin appeared on my face.

"Not really…" Kayla paused, "I'm just informing you on all this… You wanted to know in the first place," the mallowolf replied.

"True… But you told me about the Darkspawn being in END in the first place." I pointed out.

"…Okay, you got me," Kayla surrendered, "anything else you wanna know?" She growled.

"…No, I'm good," I recoiled a bit.

"Good, cause we have sand-runners on our tail," Kayla said as I looked into the side view mirror.

"Unbelievable… Already? Do these guys even sleep?" I exclaimed as I grabbed hold of the turret controls.

"I don't know, why don't you ask them after you're done being busy _not firing _at them?" She shouted at me.

"Geez, sorry," I apologized as I began to gun the sand runners down, which was near impossible to keep them off. "Persistent little buggers," I cussed in my native language as I watched them swim through the sand like fish.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, the sand heals their wounds, so you gotta make the shots count. Hit them in the heart or in the head, some place vital," Kayla pointed out as she drove faster.

"Alright, I'll try that next time," I replied as I readied myself for their next ambush. As they approached, I steadied my aim, fixated on shooting their heads off. However that would prove to be difficult as I had to follow them or time my shots just right as they jumped in and out of the sands.

"What are you waiting for?" Kayla barked at me as the sand-runners came into firing distance. I opened fire and stopped as many as I could, but as I did, more seemed to take their place. I mean I _know_ I killed the ones I went for, because they were as still as the sand itself when I got a decent shot off of them. It's like they had an unlimited supply of back up piñatas.

"What the hell do they want with us?" I shouted as I kept them away from the G-C.

"Uh… I don't know, probably raid our equipment maybe?" The sarcastic mallowolf retorted.

"Why can't they leave us alone?" I growled as they came a bit closer.

"You know you have a missile launcher on that thing right?" Kayla looked at me as if I were an idiot.

"…No, how do I get that working?" I asked. The unwillingly helpful mallowolf groaned as she engaged the missiles on my controls with the press of a button. "…Thanks," I was grateful for her assistance. I took aim at the thick of their pack and fired straight on. It was a direct hit as the majority of the sand runners were blown away from the impact. Unfortunately, some of them got right back into the action.

"A few more missiles wouldn't hurt…" Kayla suggested as she gazed through her side view mirror.

"Already on it," I said as the turret loaded in the next missile. A slight cruel smile curved on my lips as I pulled the trigger to fire the second missile. This time most of them were cleared out, with only a few left still giving chase. "Can you switch me back to guns I thi-"

"Just use another damned missile, I packed more just in case!" the mallowolf ordered.

"…Yes ma'am," I replied as the turret readied another missile. Though it was just my luck, the sand-runners caught on and dispersed from each other. I could probably take out two of them if I was lucky. Gritting my teeth, I pulled the trigger hoping it'd do some damage.

"Alright, you can go back to the guns," Kayla said after seeing the situation for herself. The mallowolf leaned over and switched the guns swiftly with ease.

"Thanks," I readjusted my grip on the controls as I began to pick them off one by one until we were completely rid of them. "…Phew…" I wiped the sweat from my forehead and lounged back in my seat.

"You did good Gus…" Kayla congratulated me, actually putting some positive emotions in it.

"I… Well I was just trying to save our lives… That's all," I shrugged.

"Well I wouldn't get cozy just yet, We're not even halfway across the desert," Kayla had burst my hopes of getting away from these vermin any time soon.

"How many sand-runners do you think there are in this place?" I questioned.

"Don't know, I haven't bothered to count them all out," Kayla replied dryly.

"Well if you had to estimate-"

"Countless," Kayla summed it up.

"I see…" I sighed as I watched the G-C kick up sand through the side-window. I nearly jumped out of my seat as my module went off. "I'll never get used to this thing," I muttered to myself as my eyes scanned who was contacting me. The name brought back lost joy I haven't felt since before the trip started. It was Tess. And knowing that, I wasted no time letting the call go through.

"Tess? Tess, you called back!" I cried out in a joyous tone.

"Yes… I guess we're both sorry for the way we acted huh?" She said, still feeling regret for the past mistake.

"Yeah…" My mood died down a bit.

"So you're still in one piece I see, how's the trip going?" Tess asked, which the only thing notable out of it that came to mind were the hardships, and I didn't want to share that with her, at least not now.

"Could be better," I told her instead, "it'd be more enjoyable if you were here right now," I said honestly.

"Aww… I wish I could be there too…" A silence set in for awhile. "Anyways, I better get back to work, I'll call back tonight then alright?" The pretztail said.

"Alright, I'll be waiting then," I said with a smile on my face.

"I love you Gus," Tess caught me off guard as my cheeks began to warm themselves up from the slight discomfort of the situation.

"…I love you too Tess," I replied before we both clicked out.

"Aww, aren't you a sweetheart," Kayla said in a slight mockingly tone.

"…Sweetheart." I murmured to myself as I sat back in my seat.

"What, got nothing else to say?" Kayla looked at me.

"What is there to say?" I replied, looking down at my module, wishing Tess would call back now.

"…You got a point there…" Kayla turned silent after that. Turning my head to face her, I could see loneliness in her eyes… As if she needed that someone in her life, like I have Tess… She needed someone.

"_Too bad that person isn't me_," I concluded with dry humor in my head. There'd be no way I'd want to devote myself to someone who's so… Angry and gets so frustrated with things. And I'll never forgive her for what she's done back at the refueling point. Eventually, riding the sand dunes up and down along with the setting of the sun lulled me to sleep. Unfortunately, Kayla had other plans for me.

"Wake up lazy ass! You're supposed to be keeping an eye on the rear!" She yelled at me.

"Wha- Oh… Sorry," I wiped my eyes clean, making them a bit more awake.

"Anyways, we're not that far from the desert border anymore," Kayla brought some positive news into the conversation.

"Really?" I leaned over my seat and gazed out the windshield seeing the harden wasteland soil returning to us.

"Yeah, I also hear being out in the desert too long makes you hallucinate," Kayla joked, but didn't laugh at it.

"Well how long were we in there anyways?" I asked her.

"A few hours," She answered as the G-C's tires rumbled over the wasteland's shredded ground.

"That long? …Felt shorter," I shrugged.

"That's cause I let you sleep for awhile, lazy ass," She chuckled a bit, all well smiling surprisingly.

"Heh-heh," I chuckled nervously as Kayla reached into the backseats of the G-C, leaving the vehicle to drive onwards without supervision.

"Here, drink up," She tossed me another bottle of the energy liquid as she returned to the wheel.

"Oh… I forgot about these," I blushed in embarrassment as I untwisted the cap.

"Don't get down on yourself, I forgot they were there too when I was packing," The mallowolf admitted.

"Heh…" I fell silent.

"Anyways… The temperature'll be dropping once we approach the northern region of the island, We got an internal heater, but if that's not enough I packed a blanket in the back," Kayla told me.

"…What's with all the…_Generosity_?" I questioned Kayla's abrupt mood swing.

"Well if we're gonna be out here for hours on end, might as well make the best of it," She said, her face still showing off a small amount joy.

"You're right," I agreed, soon chugging the bottle down after.

"Thirsty much?" Kayla said as she watched me down the whole container.

"I guess… I haven't eaten in awhile either now that you mention it," I responded, wiping my lips with the back of my paw.

"I've planned for that too," Kayla said as she focused more on her driving.

"What did you bring?" I wondered as my stomach began to growl, making me realize I still had one. Back on Remtrii, fighting hunger was a bit difficult seeing as I lived off of scraps most of the time if the fruit bearing tree didn't have any fruit. During the hardships when I had to do without, I learned to curve my hunger.

"Just a few ration packs from one of the crates back at the refueling point," Kayla leaned towards the back and picked one out, handing the package over to me promptly.

"Thanks," I opened it up. Digging around inside, I found some slices of dry and flattened pieces of meat. I rolled down the window and threw them out, not wanting to chance it.

"Not a meat eater?" Kayla asked me.

"No… I just don't like where it comes from…" I admitted, blushing a bit knowing I was gonna get razzed for it.

"It's alright, between you and me… I'm a vegetarian," Kayla loosed up a bit more, sharing a secret.

"Oh… I didn't know that," I looked over at the mallowolf, feeling a bit more comfortable around her, "what made you go vegetarian?" I dug into her.

"Well. Remember when I told you I didn't like the idea of killing other piñatas when I was first brought into END, right?" I nodded. "Yeah, I didn't enjoy the idea of killing, and to be honest, I still have feelings of remorse for what I've done each night…" her visage grew slightly sad.

"Then… Then why did you use such force when you pushed those porchipines out of their home?" I grew a bit angry with the hypocrisy I've found out about her.

"I… Well at least I didn't kill them, I couldn't've anyways…" She let out a sorrowful sigh.

"…Well what about the other innocent piñatas that you mercilessly ran down?" I prodded more accusations at her.

"Just shut up! It's part of the job, okay? Some sacrifices must be made to reach a goal, even if it hurts deep down… Remember that when you're put in the same situation, you'll see soon enough…" Her volatile defense had cooled my anger and turned the guilt right back on me.

"I… I apologize, I, I really didn't know," I shifted my sights down at my lap, looking down at what was left inside the package. Reaching my paw inside, I grasped the pear slices and threw them into my mouth, chewing them as my lips smacked with each crunch.

"…It's alright, I was just like you when I was younger… It was a blissful past, then this… Hardship, pain, death… Enter my life… Gus…?" The vehicle began to come to a stop.

"Yes…?" I tilted my head in confusion, wondering why she stopped.

"I don't mean to come off as mean as I do… I'm just afraid of getting hurt again," She held my gaze.

"Well you still seem pretty hurt… It must be hard to hide those feelings behind a bitter shell huh?" I sympathized.

"…Yes, it's the second time I've poured my feelings out to someone… And to be honest, I feel a bit better now that I've gotten it off of my chest," Her face brightened up a bit.

"That's good," I grinned at her as she let out a small yawn. "Tired?"

"…Yeah, but we can't rest here," She said as she reached in the back for an energy drink.

"I'd take the wheel for ya if you wanted to sleep," I offered.

"And I'd let you, except for one thing…" The mallowolf replied.

"What's that?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You have no idea how to get to the Northern END base without assistance, plus you still need to be taught how to use that module of yours to its fullest, so you can access the map inside on your own," Kayla laughed as she took a few slugs of her drink before putting the G-C back in motion.

"…That is true," I looked back down inside the ration's package, seeing there were a few bread rolls inside. Taking one, I munched on it slowly, making it last as I watched the distance horizon approach us.

"Don't get down on yourself… I'll teach you about the module later when we get back, alright?" She looked at me as she offered.

"Sure, I'd look forward to that," I flashed a smile at her as I finished off my bread roll.

"Anyways, I'm turning the heat up here, I can already feel the chilly breeze come in," Kayla shivered as I realized my window was still open.

"Sorry about that," I rolled it back up as I apologized.

"Thanks," She said as she cranked up one of the knobs, I could hear the heater engage, producing a noticeable hum as it generated warm air.

"So, if you don't mind… What was your childhood like?" I asked her as I felt the heat being blown onto my legs.

"Well, I began my life somewhere not on this island…" The mallowolf began her story.

"Like me," I started to realize that her and I had much in common.

"…And life back then was enjoyable, that was until I was captured by the darkspawn," she went on, though hesitated a bit after I had spoke. "It was the first time in my life that I was truly scared… And that was just the start of horrible things to come."

"So what happened once you got to the island?" I wondered.

"…I panicked, nearly going insane as I didn't have my parents by my side to comfort me anymore, I ended up running once they had released me on this god-awful island, and eventually stayed with a foster family, which unfortunately… Weren't so nice to me," she went on as I seen some white flakes land on the windshield.

"Then what happened?" I listened intently to her story.

"I stayed there for a few years, living my life in fear… Eventually I toughened up a bit. Feeling cocky, I left and embarked on my own. It was for the best I say… Anyways the parts after that were a blur… But I remember waking up in the infirmary in the southern END base… They put me into training right away, and after a few weeks I was given my first mission… A month or two later, I run into the love of my life," I assumed it was the first person she poured her feelings out to.

"Who's the lucky guy?" I asked.

"Oh? …He's no longer among the living…" She sighed.

"…I'm sorry," I felt bad for bring it up.

"It's not your fault… He would have made an amazing father if he were still alive…"

"Father? …You mean you have a child? I don't think I've met him, does he work at a different END base?" I asked, conjuring up a picture of what her offspring would turn out to be.

"No-no… He recently joined the ranks not too long ago," Kayla had an elusive look in her eyes.

"Oh, is he still going through training?" I pushed on.

"No, he's… He's a lot like you let's just say," the mallowolf smirked as the environment around us turned white.

"Really…" I said as Kayla stopped the vehicle.

"Anyways, this is your first time up here in the snow, isn't it… Do you have snow where you come from?" She looked at me as she asked the question.

"Snow? …You, you mean this white stuff that's everywhere?" I assumed.

"I take it you haven't," Kayla replied, "Well it's alright, it's not everyday we get the chance to make trips like _this_," Kayla leaned back in her chair.

"So why'd you stop?" I gave her a perplexed look.

"Well this is your first time seeing snow right?" I nodded. "Well why not enjoy it? Write your name in the snow if you want," she laughed, "it's alright, I won't tell Phil a word of it,"

"…You sure this snow is safe?" I asked as I slowly parted the door open.

"I wouldn't let you play in it if it wasn't," She joked as she nudged me out.

"If you say so," I unbuckled myself and hopped out into the surprisingly cold, powdery substance. My body was almost waist deep in the stuff. I wedged myself out and treaded lightly on top of the snow a few paces away. "_Write my name in the snow_?" I questioned as I felt to my knees and began to trail my paw through the snow… That's when it hit me… "_How do you spell Gus anyways_?" I questioned as my other paw slapped the top of my muzzle in stupidity. "_I'll give it my best shot,_" I shrugged as I began spelling it as closely as it sounded in my language.

After I was finished I stood up and gazed at it. To be honest, it appeared kind of goofy looking in my language, but I guess it'll do. As my guard was down, a large ball of snow smashed against the back of my head, sending a cold chill down my spine. I let out a yell, expressing how icy it felt as I brushed the snow away with my tail.

"What was that?" I yelled as I retreated back to the G-C, however my door was shut and locked. I pounded on it feverishly. "Kayla, let me in!" I was greeted with another snowball, this time it almost blinded me. The impact sent me falling into the snow. "Kayla!" I cried out as I picked myself up and shook the snow off of myself. There was no reply, but I heard a faint giggle from the other side of the G-C. I decided to go and investigate.

"Kayla?" I peeked from the edge of the G-C, my face soon intercepting another flying ball of snow.

"Geez Gus, you're so easy to fool," I heard Kayla's voice as I wiped the snow off, spitting out what got into my mouth.

"What happened?" I asked as Kayla stooped and gathered up more snow.

"This!" She swiftly threw another snow ball my way, however I seen this one coming and hid behind the protection of the G-C.

"Kayla, come on…" I begged, "do you _have _to do that?"

"Alright… Least I had _some_ fun with you," She said as the silence settled in for a brief moment. As I went to go peek again, a sneaky Kayla tackled me into the snow. "Gotcha!" She exclaimed with a teasing laugh.

"Okay, okay! You win, alright? Can I just get back in the G-C? I'm freezing my tail off here!" I surrendered.

"Sure…" She sighed as she got to her feet, soon to help me up onto mine.

"Thanks," I smiled slightly at her, noticing she didn't look all that bad now, attractive even… Though I hate to admit it…

"I'll go get the blanket out," She spun around and headed back into the G-C. I stood there as I watched her go, realizing I was talking to a completely different piñata than the one I first met. However the static of my module broke my train of thought. Without looking at who was calling, I answered it anyways as I walked back to the passenger side door.

"Hello?"

"Gus? It's Tess," She giggled as I could pick out the sleepiness in her voice.

"Tess! I knew you'd call back," my face lit up as I boarded the G-C, closing the door shut and buckling myself up.

"Of course I would, what makes you think I wouldn't?" She replied.

"Well, I don't know…" I scratched my head.

"It was a rhetorical question Gus," She said before bursting out with the giggles.

"Oh… Right," I said as Kayla started up the vehicle and stepped on the gas pedal, taking off in a slow pace.

"So did you guys make it there yet?" Tess asked.

"Not yet, but we're close!" I assured her.

"I guess this means you guys won't be back until tomorrow night huh?" Tess' voice dulled a bit.

"Probably, but I promise you, I'll… I'll bring back a souvenir for a gift! How's that?" I grinned.

"Oooo-, that sounds lovely," Her voice perked up again.

"Alright…" I replied as an awkward silence grew between us.

"…I better be getting to bed then," the pink pretztail yawned.

"Alright then, good night Tess," I felt tears well up in my eyes as a strange emotion took over.

"Good night Gus… I love you," She blew a kiss into the receiver.

"… I, love you too Tess," a lone tear streamed down my cheek as the line clicked out.

"You must really love her huh?" I hadn't realized that Kayla was watching me the whole time.

"…Love…" I recited to myself. "Is this what it feels like?"

"Well it sure isn't hate is it?" She laughed as another tear fell from my other eye, which soon silenced the mallowolf quickly. "…I'm sorry," She apologized.

"I'm… Confused, that's all," I blew it off as that.

"Questioning your feelings about Tess? …Are those feeling doubtful?" Kayla asked.

"No… They're sad… Longing for something… Tess, I need to see her," My thoughts were scrambled.

"Then that's love Gus. You're just sad because you miss her," Kayla laughed lightly as I wiped away the streams with both of my paws.

"Love… Will told me about it… Somewhat I guess, something about being lovey-dovey, and my love-life," I tried to grasp this feeling and truly identify it.

"Pfft, I wouldn't trust his input on love… The guy can't even get a girl to save his life," She insulted Will without any regards for my feelings about him.

"Well he said something about devotion, and needs," I felt the need that I _needed _Tess.

"Well he's got something going straight there, but I wouldn't take his opinion completely," Kayla warned.

"Alright…" I fished for the rations package that was on the floor of the G-C, eventually grasping it and bringing it back.

"Just stick with what you feel in your heart right now Gus and you'll be fine," The mallowolf gave her advice as the falling snow multiplied, nearly blinding our sight beyond the windshield.

"Okay…" I grabbed for another bread roll and calmed my emotions by snacking on it.

"Anyways… I think this is our stop," She said as all the snow seemed to stop falling, revealing sharp, gigantic hills I've never seen before.

"…I can see why they hid the base here… But aren't they worried about getting cold?" I asked, hoping I wouldn't have to freeze my tail off inside.

"No, they have heating like us to keep them warm, Though unfortunately for us… We have to climb our way to the END base," Kayla turned off the vehicle. "Wait here, I'll go get the equipment," I shivered as she opened the door, letting in the cold winds. I crawled to the driver's side of the G-C and waited for her as I endured the icy whip of the brutal air. "Alright, put this stuff on if you want to stay warm, we're traveling light," Kayla handed me a thick black coat and pants.

"I can't believe we have to climb our way there… You sure there isn't another way?" I groaned as I slipped the clothes on.

"Not that I know of, I've been up here once before, and we had to climb our way up the last time," Kayla replied as she was snug in her snow gear.

"You know an elevator wouldn't hurt…" I suggested as the mallowolf placed the project to be delivered in to a backpack.

"Well sometimes you have to sacrifice luxury to be discreet," Kayla had a point there as she strapped the backpack across her shoulders.

"…True," I wiggled out of the G-C and fell into Kayla's arms.

"Hold on there… You forgot your climbing boots," She sat me back in the chair and handed me a pair of black boots armed with studded spikes on the bottom.

"Thanks…" I scanned the boots over curiously as I jammed my feet into them, testing out the spikes with a paw.

"Careful… Those are pretty sharp," her warning was a bit too late as I accidentally drew blood.

"Now you tell me…" I wiped it off on my snow pants and hopped out of the vehicle for good this time.

"Sorry Gus…" She presented me with two short gauntlets that appeared to have claws where the knuckles were, but instead large metallic ring shaped holes replaced them. "These'll make the trip much smoother," I noticed she already had hers on. "Let me demonstrate," she placed the other pair she held in my grasp.

"They look bro-" I cut myself off as three short green beams jutted out on each gauntlet where the holes were.

"They stick into the stone and ice of the mountain, just make sure to let go of the button when you want to move," Kayla instructed me as the beams died out.

"I think I get it," I scratched my head, still holding onto my own pair of gauntlets.

"Well put 'em on and try 'em out," She nudged me with her elbow. I obeyed, yanking the stretchy material over my arms until the fit on tightly, though it was a shame one had to cover up my module, restricting me from using it for awhile.

"Here it goes," I wrapped my paws around the handles and pressed the switches on the sides and as expected the green beams lit bright as they did for Kayla.

"There ya go… Now just try it with the mountain this time," she laughed as she guided me over to the monstrous beast of icy stone.

"Is… Is it too late to admit my fear of heights?" I tried to shrink away, but Kayla's grip was firm on me.

"As a matter of fact is it," Kayla snickered as she began having to drag me along. I ended up giving in moments later.

"Okay… But if I fall and die, I'm coming back to haunt you," I scowled at her as we reached the base of the mountain.

"You wouldn't have the balls to anyways," She mocked me with a teasing laugh. I only growled defensively as I let the topic die. "Ladies first…" She dug into me more as she guided me forward with her tail.

"Hey…!" I glared at her with eyes that wondered what happened to the Kayla I met moments ago.

"Well hey, if you go first, at least I can make an attempt to catch you if you fall," She countered.

"…But I don't know the way," I replied.

"That's why you have me to guide you…" She knocked on my forehead, "thick headed much?" She laughed as she drew herself back.

"Sor-REE," I growled as I prepared for my ascent over the mountain, testing out the gear and eventually making the climb. A few feet up I gaze back down to see Kayla staying close behind.

"I didn't tell you to stop, move that lazy ass of your!" She shouted at me, batting my tail out of her face. Not wanting to get chewed out more, I resumed climbing. It felt like an hour of constant climbing as we continued on, I almost believed my arms were going to fall off.

"Don't you dare give out on me Gus!" The determined mallowolf barked at me, "We're almost there!"

"…That's what you said the last time!" I almost choked on my own breath as I wheezed.

"That's because we are and your lazy ass is out of shape!" She grumbled. Keeping silent, I decided to push myself a bit further. I was near of just giving up altogether, but my paws finally found a flat surface to grip on. With my morale rejuvenated, I quickly hauled myself onto the ledge.

"Told ya," Kayla rubbed it in my face as I rested there, completely out of breath.

"You… Were right…" I panted as I closed my eyes.

"You know… The only reason I'm letting you lay down is because you look adorable when you're napping," The mallowolf let out a giggle as she sat next to me.

"Oh boy… Lucky me…" I said between breaths.

"It was also the reason I let you snooze when we were cruising in the desert," She prodded my side with a playful finger.

"Oh come on… You spoil me…" I joked with her.

"Well you get special treatment 'cause you're my boy Gus…" She said softly as my eyes shot open.

"Your boy? You mean you have two kids? …Including me?" I sat myself up as my heart began to race again.

"No Gus… You're my _only_ boy…" She wrapped her arms around me.

"So then the other one's a girl?" I said though the fluff of her coat.

"Well aren't you the comedian?" Kayla retracted herself and looked at me with a joyful smile.

"…There's something I'm not getting here is there?" I began to feel lightheaded from all the confusion.

"How about I tell you later during the drive back home?" She offered as she stroked my hair, putting my headache to rest.

"Sure…" I said as we both got to our feet and headed towards the middle of the plateau. Seconds later the ground beneath us began to part, I didn't realize this until I almost fell in.

"Gus!" Kayla shouted as she pulled me back to safety.

"Thanks…" I replied, catching my breath from the recent scare.

"Watch your step next time," She held me tight as I nodded, still shaken up. We both examined the gaping hole as it grew bigger, I wondered if it would ever stop.

"What's this?" I questioned as I shook myself from Kayla's grip.

"I believe we're here," Kayla assumed as the hole finally stood still. A metallic platform replaced the hole, though with it came a white cocoadile, about the same height as Kayla. He approached us without warning, though Kayla showed no signs of aggression towards him.

"You two must be from the southern base, correct?" The cocoadile asked as he approached us.

Kayla only nodded with a hum, confirming it as she removed her backpack and handed it over without hesitation.

"You're bravery can't be described with words!" He exclaimed as he griped the package tightly between his paws. We sat within silence for a few moments until the cocoadile spoke again, "I… Can tell your recent travels have left you both exhausted, would you like to stay and rest for awhile?" He offered generously.

Kayla was about to refuse the offer, but then she glanced over at me for an answer. My head bobbed as I could really use the break. "Sure…" She said remotely, as if she returned to the Kayla of a few days ago.

"Alright then, I'm sure you'll find everything in place… It'll be like you never left the base at all," His reassuring words made me question if the base would be an exact replica of the one I've resided in. It was something Kayla could confirm, but with the bad vibes she was giving off I decided I could wait and see it all for myself.

We followed the satisfied cocoadile back onto to the elevator and headed down into the END base. "Home sweet home, huh?" The cocoadile said once we were in mid descent, with the hangar in full view.

It was just as large as the one back in the southern base, and just as full as well! And just as the elevator grounded itself, I swear I spotted out Allen and Anders in the distance. However, after the last time I worked with them, I don't think an unexpected meeting would really cheer them up from the turmoil of yesterday. And the rumor of Anders being sided with the darkspawn didn't make the idea of talking to them any more appealing.

"Feel free to stay in the lounge. If you're able to find a bed in the recruit's room, don't be afraid to take it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a world to save," The cocoadile said before for departing.

"So… What do you want to do?" I asked Kayla.

"Come on, let's go to the lounge," she said as her tail came up from behind and nudged me forward, almost pushing me over as it caught me off guard.

"Ooof- …Alright," I said as the mallowolf took the lead, heading off towards the lounge. Just as we entered the lounge, Kayla went instantly to one of the empty couches and plopped down, putting her legs up onto the next cushion.

"Come sit down," She patted the area in front of her with her tail, motioning at me to sit down. I obeyed her instructions and took the seat she reserved for me.

"So I guess we have a few hours to relax…" I tried to start a conversation, hoping to get Kayla back in a good mood, however she refused to budge

"Don't waste it talking then," Kayla retorted as she crossed her arms, her eyes glaring at me.

"Alright…" I leaned back a bit and shut my eyes, awaiting the next day.


	5. DAY 4: From END to END

**DAY 4: From END to END**

"Gus… Gus!" I heard Kayla's voice as two arms shook me awake.

"Huh? Wha-?" My eyelids parted instantly as I swiftly shook my head around. Trying gazing at my surroundings, I was almost oblivious that I had fallen asleep in the lounge.

"It's time for us to get going," I looked up to find that I was laying in Kayla's arms.

"Oh…" My cheeks flushed as I replied, squirming out of her grasp and onto my feet.

"Surprisingly they _did_ have an elevator at the base of the mountain…" Kayla informed me.

"Huh? Then why didn't we use it?" I glared at Kayla as she stood up.

"Hey! I wasn't told about it until _after_ you fell asleep, genius!" She growled as she nudge me with her tail towards the door leading to the vehicle hangar. "Anyways, they found our vehicle and stored it in their garage until we were ready to leave," the mallowolf made me lead the way downstairs.

"That's pretty convenient," I commented, not wanting to climb back down or have to face the cold snow again. Kayla said nothing more as we traversed through the maze of G-C's in search for our own, luckily it wasn't that hard to spot with it being the largest of them all. The white cocoadile of before stopped us before we could board the vehicle.

"I want to thank you again for your work, I can't believe how close we've come to breaking these chains of tyranny," his eyes alone shown how much he was grateful.

"Well we haven't gotten there just yet, so don't rely on your high hopes," Kayla grumbled as she climbed into the G-C, slamming the door behind her. The cocoadile stood there, dumbfounded from the mallowolf's attitude that seemed to extinguish his brash nature. I had only offered a simple shrug of the shoulders, not knowing what else to say. And with that I had left him and returned to Kayla's side.

"He didn't seem too happy that you said that," I glanced at Kayla as she put the G-C in drive and brought it slowly towards the elevator. I noticed she discarded the snow equipment she had on, I had done the same, throwing the clothes in the back of the G-C.

"Well he's a cocky fool who trusts too much in fantasies," The mallowolf grumbled as we pulled onto the platform.

"Well don't you want this war to end too? I mean come on… Can't you believe in _something_?" I argued back as the elevator descended into the darkness.

"…Yes, I do, but… Each time we'd get close… Something would go wrong," she sighed, taking comfort in being alone in my presence.

"Well he has an ambition to see better days, and I can tell you do too," I pointed out as the internal light in the G-C turned on, illuminating the two of us in the darkness as we continued our descent.

"…Gus, you haven't seen a true darkspawn for yourself, you'd know how clever and deceiving they can be," she spoke with hopeless eyes.

"Hm?" I tilted my head to the side, curious to what a darkspawn really was.

"This is why I don't trust Ryan…" Kayla shook her head and gazed at the stick shift of the vehicle in despair, "I get bad vibes whenever I'm around him,"

"…Now that you mention it… Me too," I said, recalling the moment when the Pieena grabbed my shoulder… I couldn't help but feel goosebumps forming.

"Well at least I'm not the only one," The mallowolf looked back up at me and smiled, soon losing it once she displayed it, "but that doesn't change the fact that we can't do anything about it, Phil would have our hides if we try to get rid of Ryan," Kayla let out another sigh.

"Well… It was Phil's decision… Tell me, has Phil made a poor choice yet?" I questioned, hoping I would get the answer I was expecting.

"Nothing _too _drastic… Yeah, there were petty mistakes here and there, but overall, Phil's a pretty good leader," Kayla responded as I nodded at her answer.

"Then who knows, maybe he sees something good in Ryan and we just haven't found it yet," I shrugged, reaching in the backseats for another energy drink.

"But Gus, I told you once before, the guy's a complete slacker!" She fought back with that fact.

"Hm…" I thought it over as I leaned back in my seat and unscrewed the cap on the plastic bottle.

"And don't forget it either, he's as about as useless as Evan is useful," she made a comparison as I took a few swigs from the container.

"…But if he's so useless, why does Phil still keep him then?" I wondered.

"As I said before… They've had a past together, Phil can't find it in himself to tell an old friend no… As soon as he was welcomed in, we've gotten our lights changed so Ryan can live here without burning to a crisp… Since darkspawns are extremely vulnerable to ultraviolet rays n' all…" I let this fact settle awhile before speaking.

"Now that you mention it… I never seen him go outside," I took another mouthful of the red liquid.

"Of course not! That's why!" The mallowolf shouted back.

"But then… He mentioned wanting to do this mission, the one we just finished right now…" I mentioned.

"Ha… I probably know why…" She assumed.

"Well he said he was in it for the fame," I muttered nervously.

"That's probably not all either… I believe he wanted to overthrow our plans! Once a conniving darkspawn, always a conniving darkspawn," Kayla argued as the elevator came to a stop and the walls ahead parted open, exposing us to the morning light that nearly blinded us.

"...Maybe," I shrugged, contemplating it a bit as we both sat in silence. Once the gap was wide enough, Kayla stomped on the gas pedal, sending me into my seat once again. However, I didn't have the will to complain about it. Instead, I came up with another topic. "How are we doing on fuel supplies?"

"I _might_ need to make a pit stop or two," the mallowolf eased up on the pedal as she replied.

"Alright." I began to lay my head down and close my eyes. But thanks to the energy drink, getting sleep would be impossible. Keeping my ears open, I contemplated the recent discussion over. Ryan came to my mind more than I would have liked. Kayla and I couldn't help but be suspicious of him, she's brought up valid points about him slacking off… I wonder if Phil has caught him in the act yet, or even heard any reports of him slacking off. Probably not seeing as the pieena's still working for the END.

Eventually my module began going off with static. Opening an eye, I found it was Tess who was trying to contact me. I wasted no time answering the call.

"Tess?" I spoke into it.

"Good morning Gus!" She greeted me cheerfully.

"Good morning," I recited back with a smile.

"So how goes the mission?" Tess asked curiously.

"We finished it last night and we're heading home as we speak!" I informed her of the good news.

"Goody! I can't wait to hold you in my arms again Gus," Her comment made me blush.

"…So how'd you sleep last night?" I questioned her out of curiosity.

"Ehh… Not as good as the night before," Tess admitted.

"…I'm sorry," I felt bad for not being there for her.

"It's alright, at least I _got_ some sleep, I guess that's what matters," I pictured her shrug, "what about you?"

"I…" I could help but feel guilty when I recalled waking up in Kayla's arms, "I slept alright," I concluded.

"You sure it wasn't uncomfortable sleeping in the G-C?" She countered.

"No-no, we slept inside the base, they were very generous with their hospitality," I corrected her.

"Oh… Well that's good too,"

"Gus…" Kayla interjected into the conversation, "I hate to interrupt, but we're nearing the desert soon, I'll need you to keep an eye on the rear," Kayla ordered.

"Alright," I nodded, "I gotta go Tess… I love you," I found myself saying.

"Aww… I love you too Gus," she blew a kiss through the module before cutting off communications. I shook the sadness away as I picked up the turret controls. Feeling refreshed, there was no way I was going let the sand-runners even think of getting revenge on us for their mistake. Though not one had even dared to approach us. It was uncanny as we made it halfway through the desert and still no attacks on the G-C.

"…Are the sand-runner's still sleeping?" I asked, even though it was already late in the afternoon.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Kayla laughed, "Either they've found something better than our G-C to raid for goodies, or they're too afraid to attack us from yesterday's stand-off," the mallowolf threw in her opinion.

"I say the first theory sounds more logical," I assumed.

"Yeah, so we better hurry before they hit us again," Kayla stomped on the pedal, stirring up the sand below.

We spent the rest of the drive in silence. Surprisingly our trip through the desert was without much trouble. It was then I blurted out, "so what was my father like?"

"Hm? …You mean Gustavus?" The mallowolf glanced at me for a brief moment.

"Yeah… What was he like?" I shifted in my seat uneasily.

"…Well for one, you look just like him… Seems the only thing of mine you have is my tail," She sighed.

"Oh…" I curled my tail around my chest to get a better look at it. Gazing at it sadly, I felt bad it was the only thing to be passed down to me from my mother.

"Anyways, your father was a great person… Most of the time," Kayla let out a dry chuckle.

"Most of the time? What do you mean?" I questioned, tilting my head a bit.

"Well, when he'd go drinking, he'd always drink his heart out… Or puking his guts out really, it was a pet peeve of mine," Kayla grumbled, recalling the moments.

"Drinking?" I repeated, wondering how much liquid a pretztail could hold before reaching a bursting point.

"Er… Alcohol really… You know Wine, Whiskey, Vodka… Beer," The last word hit me. I couldn't fathom the fact that my own father liked that stuff. It was so bitter tasting that I'd rather eat my own mache than drink another gulp of that poison!

"Sadly… Yes," I didn't like who my father was turning out to be, but then I remember that Kayla hadn't even mentioned the good yet.

"And when he came back drunk… He'd always beg for sex, it pissed me off… And eventually I locked myself in my room until he'd sober up," She continued tearing him down.

"How could you fall in love with a guy like that?" I wondered, seeing as she kept talking down about him.

"Well… Before Gustavus picked up that nasty habit, he had an attractive personality, he kept positive even when times were bad, he was the go to guy if anyone needed a good laugh or two to keep in good spirits," Kayla smiled a bit.

"What caused him to start… Drinking," I prodded carefully.

"He wouldn't tell me, he seemed to get more and more depressed and eventually fell into it. Soon after that, I found out I was pregnant…With you," The mallowolf sighed.

"Then what happened?" I reached into the back for a snack, plucking out another bag of rations.

"Well the news of you in my tummy didn't spark any interest out of him at all. And a few days later, Gustavus never returned from a mission. We assumed him to be dead after weeks of searching. It hurt me greatly to have to face the facts and I tried to stay positive, just like he had so long ago… But then my old bitter self eventually returned as the days went by," I couldn't believe Kayla was still going on about this without breaking down into tears.

"What about me? When did I come out… And how did I end up in Remtrii? To be honest, this doesn't make sense to me," I pondered the questions in my head as I tore open the bag.

"We sent you away for your own good, we were and _are _in a chaotic war remember? I… I only wanted the best for you… Even if it wasn't with me," she exhaled another stressed breath as we slowed down, nearing the refueling point. Though the site in front of us caused me to drop my rations all over the floor of the vehicle.

"S-S-Sand-runners? Here?" I thought my eyes deceived me in that moment. However Kayla confirmed it as I also spotted out their hostages. Cursing to myself, I could only sit and watch as five sand-runners held the porchipine family of before at gun point.

"…Stay here, I'll handle this," Kayla instructed as she shut the G-C down and slowly stepped out, making sure to bring a rifle with her.

"_Oh god… This isn't going to be pretty,_" I winced, wanting to close my eyes, but I knew deep down that I had to watch for the sake of both Kayla and the porchipine family.

"What do you want sand-runners?" She growled at them as the child was bawling its eyes out.

"Simple…" A pieena sand-runner hissed, "what you keep in this building. Our friends here told us that you keep some very nice necessities in there…" He gestured an arm towards the porchipines, referring to them as the 'friends.'

"Hmph…" Kayla raised her firearm at the pieena.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," The pieena only counter the move with words as his allies reminded the mallowolf of their hostages, "that is of course, if these lives hold any significance to you… They don't look like they do, do they?" He read the furious mallowolf like a book.

"Grrr…" Kayla eyed up the sand-runners, knowing she'd have to make another sacrifice. That's when my instincts overcame my better judgment as I grasped the turret controls. No one foresaw what I had in store as I unloaded a rain of bullets onto the pieena, soon picking off the other sand-runners without hesitation.

My actions proved to be a grave mistake as one of the sand-runners had swiftly taken the life of the father porchipine with a quick pull of the trigger before a hail of bullet pierced through his skull.

"Perry!" The mother shouted over the sound of gunfire as she tried to fight the grip of her captive.

"Gus! What the hell are you doing!" Kayla had dropped her weapon in shock. It shot off the second it hit the ground, sending off a stray bullet. I continued to fire as the mother eventually took a few shoots from one of the sand-runner's gun. Luckily, it didn't look too lethal, but my gut told me differently as I gave the attacking sand-runner what he deserved.

"Guuus!" Kayla roared as she pulled me off of the controls. My body fought against her, however Kayla's strength proved to be much stronger as she pulled us both out of the G-C and onto the ground below. The mallowolf had me in checkmate with her body's weight on top of mine. "What the fuck was that!" She slapped me across the cheek as she glared at me.

"Get offa' me!" I struggled against her hold, but it was no use.

"Do you realized what you've just done?" She yelled back at me as I started to throw punches at her to get her to budge.

"Get offa' me, they're still out there!" I growled, wondering if all the sand-runners were actually dead. Kayla complied without another word as we both stood up, eventually returning to the brutal scene. Every sand-runner on the battlefield were certainly dead, however the mother and her child still showed signs of life as we both rushed to her aid.

"Miss, are you alright?" Obviously a stupid question as she was bleeding profusely from multiple areas. Without hesitation, I helped her into a sitting position as my arm took the blunt of some of her quills. I could only grit my teeth and bear it as her condition needed more attention than mine.

"I… I don't think… I'm gonna… Make it…" The porchipine heaved between breaths, soon hacking up blood.

"Just hang in there, please!" My eyes started to water up as I recalled the promise I made to them, "Kayla, go get the medical supplies!" I tried to hide my sorrow the best I could, showing weakness now wasn't an option.

"I… I'm not so experienced in the medical field…" She shied away, not wanting to have the porchipine's blood on her paws.

"I don't care! I'll do the surgery myself if I have to!" I snarled at the mallowolf as she retreated to the G-C.

"Please…" The prochipine gargled with the blood in her mouth, "Take care… Of my child…" She lifted him up slightly with all the strength she had left. The life soon escaped her as her arms and the child fell onto her lap.

"No… No!" I shook my head in disbelief as I pulled at my hair.

"It's too late Gus… I'm sorry," I hadn't realized Kayla had returned with the supplies until she had put a reassuring arm around me. I shrugged it off as I retrieved the child from it's late mother's arms.

"…Sorry isn't good enough," I mumbled as I carried the porchipine offspring into the G-C.

"Gus, come on! It couldn't've been helped either way!" She followed me inside, taking the driver's seat.

"…It could if you would have just let them stayed… Their death is your fault… I hope you're happy," I cussed at her as I gazed at the child, knowing it would have a tough life growing up without it's parents.

"…Tch, fine then, be that way," Kayla cursed back as she exited the vehicle to open the doors of the refueling station. During that time I had grabbed the blanket in the back of the G-C and wrapped the porchipine in it for warmth.

Neither Kayla nor I spoke to each other the whole trip back, there was only the constant noise of the weeping child, which I could tell was getting on Kayla's nerves. "_Serves her right_," I thought as I wallowed in the guilt of a broken promise. The child would become my burden. He would be the blight of my biggest mistake. "_Every time I look at him, I will only see how I shattered his life._" It wasn't supposed to be like this. "…_Would he ever forgive me_?" I questioned as his cries echoed in my ears.

The crying became contagious as we finally reached the elevator of the base's hangar, because as we were descending, tears started to slip down from my eyes as well. Once the elevated came to a halt, I saw practically the whole crew surrounding us, chanting out cheers and congratulating us. They made sure to make room for us to park as we slowly made our way to an open space.

Kayla didn't hesitate to shove the grateful piñatas out of the way if they had blocked her path. I didn't have to do anything once they saw the porchipine child wailing. They parted a walkway instantly as the room eventually grew silent, all except for the child's cries. No one dared follow me. At least that's what I would have liked to believe until Tess tapped me on the shoulder as I was climbing the steps to the lounge.

"Gus… Are you alright?" She noticed the tears that dampened my cheeks.

"…N-no…" It was a pain to admit that.

"C-Can I ask what happened out there?" She asked as I turned around to face her fully, showing her the prochipine child in my arms. "…G-Gus?" she gazed at the child, still not getting what I was trying to show her.

"…I…I…" The tears returned again, come down faster this time as Tess scooped the child from my arms. Automatically, my paws went straight for my face to hide my guilt.

"It's alright Gus… Just go on to bed, we'll talk about it tomorrow," Tess knew it was best not to probe into emotional wounds this soon. I nodded without another word, trying to hide the tears as I retreated back to my bed.

Luckily not many piñatas were around to see my sorrow, and Kayla was no where to be seen. I had assumed she hid herself away in her room. Was she feeling the same way as I did? Maybe, but she wouldn't dare show it to the public. So many thoughts had burdened my mind as I eventually reached the bunk room. Thankfully all the piñatas that were in the room were sleeping, allowing me to work with my sorrow without getting asked questions or getting razzed. Hiding my face into my pillow, I waited for sleep to take me away.


	6. Gus' backstory

**Gus' Back Story**

Unfortunately my attempts of sleeping were soon defeated once Phil came to check up on me.

"You doing alight Gus?" His voice asked as I felt a paw of support grasp my shoulder. I peeked out a bit from the pillow and gazed at the fudgehog for a moment before answering.

"…Not really sir…" I confessed silently.

"I heard that you returned with an infant… What happened out there Gus?" He sat down on my bed, his paw still fixed on my shoulder.

"I failed… That's what," My head took refuge back into the pillow again.

"No Gus, you didn't fail, You-"

"No, you don't understand," I mumbled through the fabric, "that child belonged to two porchipines who were mercilessly slaughtered because I couldn't save them in time!"

"Porchipines…" Phil hesitated for a moment, "you don't mean the ones that I had kept in…"

"Yes, the same ones," I nodded, restricted by the pillow.

"How…? How? They were perfectly fine in there! What happened?" Phil tugged the pillow from my grasp and threw it to the side.

"I…I…" I began to stutter as Phil flipped me over, forcing me to face him.

"Please… I just want to know," both of his paws were on my shoulders now. There would be no escape without an answer.

"Kh-kh-Kayla kicked them out, an-and when we came back… Sa-sand-runners got them," I admitted.

"Kayla…" Phil recited to himself silently as he retracted his arms back. Ryan had entered the room, standing right at the doorway.

"Hey Gus, Kayla wants to see you," the pieena leaned his back onto the side of the doorway as he stared at us with dull eyes.

"Oh good," Phil jumped off the bed, "where is she?" The fudgehog went for the door but was stopped by the arm of the pieena.

"Just the boy…" Ryan nudged Phil back a few steps.

"Hm?" My ears perked up, "…What for?" I climbed out of bed carefully.

"…She wants to apologize for what happened… Dunno what about… But yeah," I didn't need Ryan to elaborate on it to know what Kayla wanted to apologize for.

"Alright," I slipped right by Ryan, who instantly proceeded to block Phil from getting past. Bickering erupted in the room behind me as I left it in a hurry. Wasting no time, I made easy work of the stairs to the lounge. However, I stopped at that when I spotted out Will and Tess sitting together on one of the couches. And of course, Tess still had the child cradled in her arms.

"Well hey, here comes the father himself!" Will exclaimed as I approached them.

"Hey!" Tess complained as she batted the cocoadile's arm lightly.

"Sor-_ree_," Will shrugged.

"How're you feeling Gus?" Tess asked as I stood there in front of them.

"A bit better… How's the child?" I returned the question.

"He's calmed down quite a bit," She rocked the child gently in her arms.

"Yeah, all we had to do was give him some milk and he was pretty damn content," Will laughed.

"Oh… Alright," I nodded, "anyways, Kayla needs to talk to me, I don't want to keep her waiting."

"Alright, don't let us keep you then," Tess smiled as she stroked the infant's head. I waved to both of them as I departed down the next flight of stairs. Luckily, there wasn't any monitor to stop me this time. Knocking on the door, I waited patiently to be welcomed in.

Once the doors opened, I could see Kayla on the other side, clearly in a better mood than before.

"Come in Gus," the mallowolf stepped aside, allowing me to enter, "you can sit down on the bed if you like," she offered, closing the door behind her.

"Alright," I hopped up on the mattress and made myself comfortable on the edge.

"Look… I'm sorry about the way I acted… You're my son, not just another expendable soldier," I mentally winced at the word _expendable_ as she sat down next to me, still holding my gaze.

"…You shouldn't be sorry, it's because of my rash thinking and poor decision making that the porchipine family was slaughtered… You had every right to be mad at me…" I sighed, shaking my head.

"At least you were strong enough to save the child," Kayla placed a sympathetic paw on my shoulder, "…Where _is _the child anyways?" she raised an eyebrow.

"He's in Tess' care right now, he's doing fine," I assured her as she chuckled.

"I'm sure you two will be great parents," the mallowolf attempted to shed light on the situation.

"…I'm not sure if I'm ready to be a parent…" I mumbled, knowing nothing of parenthood.

"It's alright, I had the same problem when I had you…" She rubbed my shoulder, letting me know it was natural.

"…What was it like?" I began to feel a bit nervous discussing the matter as she drew her paw back.

"Well for one, I knew it wasn't the right time for a child to enter my life… And I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had gotten you aborted," She shivered, recalling the memories.

"What happened after I came into the world? I mean… I don't remember you or my father at all!" I wondered why I was abandoned during my childhood for all those years.

"Unfortunately your father... You've heard the story, but we had to get you away from this place, it was crawling with more darkspawn than usual at the time.

"…How'd you do that? I thought you said there was no way off this place?" I countered.

"True, but not by any _normal _means. You see… We had to use Ryan to get by the darkspawn. He smuggled you over to an unknown land... In a sense, it felt like he was taking you away from me, but we all knew it was for the best as he was finding you a safe haven," She exhaled slowly, gazing down at her bed sheets.

"So that's how I ended up in Remtrii…" I murmured to myself.

"Yeah… We had a tracking-monitoring device embedded into your head as well to keep tabs on you. I've kept a close eye on you during my free time, Gus. However, we lost contact with you six years after that, there were no signs of life in the readings,"

"Do you know what happened to cause that?" Her eyes met back with mine.

"Not really… We assumed you didn't make it out there. I began to hate Ryan after that to be honest. I believe he didn't place you in a safe enough environment… But I guess beggars can't be choosers when it comes to making hasty decisions," she shook her head and glanced away.

"Well I'm here now, it's proof that your tracking system was just faulty, that's all," I pointed out, hoping she'd let go of the spite against her mistakes and Ryan.

"True, I'm glad to have you back Gus," the mallowolf embraced me in a long hug, I returned the gesture almost as firm. "…Even if it's still dangerous out there, it's good to know you're still alive," she released me and gazed at me a moment.

"Yeah… I used to think I was alone in this world. E-N-D has definitely changed my outlook on that."

"You… You didn't have any friends before END?" Kayla's eyes widened.

"No… I didn't have anyone to look after, and I had no one to look after me," I shook my head as I started to reminisce about my final hours on Remtrii. The thoughts ended up becoming words.

Another day was spent clinging onto life as the evening sun began to sink into the foggy clouds below. I was resting inside a small makeshift canopy I had recently made in one of the tress. Usually they wouldn't last more than a few days seeing as someone would have the nerve to take the branches, leaving my shelter completely bare. I never stayed in one part of Remtrii for long and this was my second day in this location.

It would have been a peaceful night of sleep if it wasn't for the roaring cries of the citizens. Something was certainly amiss, however I just tossed and turned, hoping the noise would go away. My ears soon picked out the sound of mass gunfire and the occasional explosion. I climbed to my knees to see the piñatas below running for their lives. Then I caught sight of their ominous pursuers making their approach.

They looked like robots, or that's what I assumed them to be at the time as they were clad in metallic armor. These fearsome tyrants were later known as the darkspawn. I crouched down and kept low as I scanned the madness below me. Mentally keeping my fingers crossed, I prayed that they wouldn't spot me. Surely they wouldn't spare me, seeing them mercilessly capture the inhabitants and dragging their bagged bodies off to who knows where.

The next thing I know, is that a set of cold paws wrapped around my torso... Nearly stunned, I faced my head towards my captor the best I could. I didn't need to see the whole picture to know it was a darkspawn. It spoke in a strange language as I gazed into it's helmet visor, trying to spot it's eyes, but there was nothing to see.

I struggled against it's grasp, putting up a fight using all the limbs I had. Unfortunately, the dark spawn's armor was too thick to place any decent blows to buy myself some time to escape. Before I knew it, I was place in a cold steel cage. Taking a quick glace, I could see a few other piñatas weren't so lucky either. Many of them spoke of our dilemma being the end, the apocalypse, that there was no escape.

I remained positive I as I toyed with the lock a bit, there had to be a way to open it. Though the darkspawn nearly slashed off my paws once it found me trying to break out. The being hissed at me, probably calling me a few vulgar names in it's native tongue. I tired to scoot away from him, but there wasn't that much room in the cage, and I didn't doubt that the dark spawn wouldn't hesitate shoving more piñatas inside.

Luckily we were all graced with the room we were given as our cage was tossed carelessly inside the back of an armored truck. This was the beginning of no return. I tuned out the whimpers and cries of the others as I wondered where in the world our destination was going to be. The drive there was extremely long, and for a moment between fighting sleep and keeping myself aware of my surroundings, it strangely felt that we were sailing on a ship. Maybe I was just too tired to actually keep my balance.

The darkspawn returned for us once the stop was made. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say it was the same one that captured me from before. He plucked me out from the bunch, gripping me by the scruff of my neck. He muttered a few things at me as I tried to wiggle out of his grasp. Each time I tried to fight, the darkspawn's grip increased, I stopped all attempts once his claws pierced my skin. I could feel the blood seep into my mache as he led me through hallways until we reached a stone cell, throwing me inside it with a growl.

I nearly collided with the wall as the door slammed shut behind me. In the midst of pain, I recollected myself and ran for the door, testing it to see if it would budge, but an electric shock persuaded me otherwise once I laid a paw on the handle. It was then I was fully convinced that the darkspawn were completely sick and twisted as the methods of torture they utilized. The pain was too intense to try and stay conscious and I knew drifting off would be a major mistake.

Fortunately, I woke up still in one piece, but still in the stone cell. This time I took the time to examine my new home. The only signs of life was beyond a single barred window... And when I found what exactly was beyond it, I didn't find it pretty at all. The land far below was plagued with war. The battlefield was stretched out all the way into the horizon, my ears finally registered the sound of gunfire and explosions of soldiers and tanks as I watched the massacre unfold. A barrage of what looked like fireworks came blazing my way. I ducked for cover, soon hearing them slicing the air above.

What stuck me odd was that after the explosion, the cell was still standing. I peered back outside to see that most of the pinatas below were already dead and the battle was already starting to die. I had to ask myself: What the hell just happened? I pondered that question over in my head as I shied away from the window. Gunfire occasionally echoed into my cell, but it had often died as soon as it made itself known.

Eventually the sun went down, revealing a full moon, the only thing lighting up the war zone and my cell. I climbed back towards the window and gazed at the silver sphere for awhile as my senses turned off. Time seemed to stand still, or at least until I got dragged off by familiar paws again. A growl escaped my mouth as the dried wounds reopened and the sensation of a gooey warmth slowly trickled down my back. The darkspawn guided me down another maze of hallways, muttering nonsense at me all the while.

In an instant, my face met the tar and soil of the earthly ground. Spitting out what ended up in my mouth, I drew myself to my knees to see that I was finally back in freedoms grace... Or so I thought. Instead, I was put into the battlefield I saw hours earlier. Thankfully for my sake, it wasn't as intense as when I first laid eyes on it. I tried for the door again, but second thoughts encouraged me not to, the risk of being shocked again could prove to be fatal in this situation.

The next thing that came to mind was to escape the fight. From the distance that was between the fight and myself was a few hundred yards give or take, it would take them a few seconds to actually spot me. That was enough for a head start, but it wasn't long before I had a few bullets chasing my feet. I quickened the pace of my steps as the gunfire kept at me, keeping me on edge. In my rush, I nearly trampled over a cocoadile that was taking shelter in a foxhole.

However, the little guy had the balls to actually yank me down in with him. This guy ended up saving my life, the same guy who I acknowledge today as Will. Despite the favor and in the thick of confusion, I fought against the cocoadile's grasp. For a small fry, he sure did pack some power as he socked me in the cheek when I wasn't expecting it. The impact sent me back into the ground.

And as if it couldn't get strange enough, the cocoadile shoves something into my ear and suddenly I can understand him.

"Testing, Testing... do you read me?" he spoke slowly. I nodded carefully, still slightly dazed from his sucker punch. "Good, now if you'll come with me, I think we might be able to help you out..." he offered his paw. I took it without question as he lifted me back up and closed the hole from above.

"It's dark..." I shivered, shaken still.

"I know, captain obvious," Will mumbled as he guided me down the tunnel, my paw still in his, "not that much longer now, you'll see light again soon," he assured me. I stayed quiet as the sound of metallic gears echoed though the tunnel, soon exposing the light ahead, and the place that would become my new home.

As we made our entrance, the flashy interior really caught my eye, not to mention nearly blinded it as well. Once my eyes adjusted, I could see multiple piñatas at work, all of them too busy too notice our presence. Though a fudgehog, Phil to be exact, waved and greeted the cocoadile with, "glad to see you're still in one piece Will, so who's the new guy?"

"That's what I'm going to find out..." Will replied slyly as he took me into the bunk room. And that's how I ended up here...

"Wow..." Kayla's eyes widened as my story sunk in, "not many piñatas survive darkspawn encounters in situations like that, it sounded like you were about to meet your end."

"It did, and if I feel back there, I can still feel the marks that jerk left on me too," I put my paw to the back of my neck, brushing my fingers over the scared divots that never completely healed.

"Well at least he's different, he gave you a chance to survive... I think he admired your will to survive. That or the fact that you weren't a crybaby..." The mallowolf mused half jokingly as she smiled.

"What was there to cry about?" I shrugged, knowing there wasn't anything to lose at the time. Kayla laughed a bit at my response as she lifted herself off the bed.

"I'm gonna grab something to eat, you wanna come with?" She offered.

"...Actually, I'm going to see what Tess is up to... I owe her an explanation after I had shied away from her yesterday. "

"Eh... Suit yourself then," she waved at me before heading upstairs. I waited a bit before leaving the room myself. Once I had made my ascent over the first flight of stairs, I couldn't spot Kayla anywhere. Doubts entered my mind if she was really going for anything to eat, or maybe plans changed now that I wasn't a part of them.

I didn't waste much time trying to pick Kayla out from the crowd that was there. Instead, I made my way up the second flight of stairs in search of Tess. There wasn't any trace of her in the operations room, fortunately I caught her sitting on my bed in the bunk room, cradling the porchipine child in her arms.

"...Tess?" I called out, peering from the doorway.

"Hm...? Oh, hey Gus! ...What's wrong?" She asked, already reading the emotion in my tone and face.

"Um... I'm sorry about how I acted after coming back from the mission... I was extremely emotionally distressed about what had happened, I... I,"

"There's no need to explain Gus, I asked around and Phil told me everything... I'm sorry, but I was curious," Tess patted the bedding next to her, offering me a seat.

"I see... You're not disappointed in me are you?" I sat down next to her without a second thought, yet still hesitant of what her response would be.

"No, not at all, you did what you had to do, and you should be glad that you've saved a life if not all of them," she presented the child to me, who was wrapped up in a new blanket, sound asleep.

"...He looks so calm, how'd you get him to stop crying?" I gazed at the white mached pup in awe.

" He was simply hungry, remember? ...Oh, and he needed a diaper change," Tess giggled, "with the quills growing in, you have to be extra careful, I got nicked a few times,"

"Heh, you'll have to wear some durable gloves next time," I chuckled.

"I'll look for a pair next time then... You wanna hold 'em?" She offered up the child.

"S-sure..." I carefully took the porchipine child in my arms, overly cautious not to drop it. That's just what I needed, two angry spirits pissed off at me because I dropped their child. As I held him, a warm sensation welled up in my chest as I could feel the boy breathe in my arms.

"So..." Tess asked.

"...What?" I faced her, tearing my attention away from the child.

"So, what's the child's name?" She poked at my arm.

"I... I don't know...Why?" I glanced back at the child briefly, wondering what his name could have been.

"Well... We should give him a name then," the pretztail smiled as she scooted closer, her head leaning on my shoulder, adding more to the warmth.

"What should we name him?" I questioned, already fresh out of ideas.

"I was thinking that Kain would be a nice name... You know, with a K..." She let out a small sigh as she gazed at the porchipine.

"Kain sounds nice..." I couldn't find it inside myself to argue it.

"Kain it is then," she snuggled closer into me, happy with the decision. Getting a little drowsy, I let out a short yawn. "Tired?" Tess brushed a paw through my hair.

"Yeah... No one let me get any sleep since I got back from the mission..." I handed the prochipine back to Tess, soon falling into the bed sheets.

"Awwh, poor Gus..." She rubbed my tummy a bit as I fell asleep in a matter of seconds.


	7. NIGHT 4: Dreaming of the END

**NIGHT 4: Dreaming of the END**

The following morning, I found myself awake in another piñata's bed... In fact, make that another piñata's house. I was surprised to even find the sun greeting me through the shades covering the window.

"Where am I..." I asked to nobody in particular as I eyed up a room that was filled with silent peace. The place was so neatly kept, a lamp, a few bookshelves, a couch, even a ceiling fan. I felt spoiled enough just to wake up in such a place.

"Well good morning my sunshine!" I heard Kayla's voice echo through the halls, sounding strangely more blissful than usual.

"Uh... Good morning?" I scratched the back of my head as the mallowolf poked her head into my room, grinning at me while I gawked at her.

"You better hurry your tail into the shower, I got breakfast cooking for you and your friends and I don't think you wanna keep either waiting,"

"...Friends?" I wondered... Unless she had meant Tess, Will and the rest of the END crew.

"Why of course silly, what else would you call them?" She laughed as she headed off into the kitchen.

"Heh... Since when did I live in such a peaceful environment..." I muttered to myself as I got out of bed. "Maybe the war was won and I had just slept through it all..." I pondered as I headed out the door. "No... that doesn't sound right... I was probably in a coma, stuck in a series of horrible nightmares,"

I went for the first door in front of me, which happened to be the bathroom, "...Lucky guess?" I reminded myself that I didn't know this place inside out yet... Something was up, but by the looks of it so far, it wasn't that bad. At least the shower controls were more simple and as I started it up, I began to recall the memories back at END and all of their crazy technology.

"Was that all really just a nightmare?" I mumbled as I stepped inside the steamy shower, closing the curtain behind me. "If it was all just a nightmare in a coma, why didn't Kayla point it out the minute I woke up?" I questioned my theory as I lathered up my mache. Even though nothing added up yet, I saw no point in trying to argue my current situation... At least not yet.

Finishing up, I exited the shower and grabbed a towel to dry off. I didn't spend too much time making myself decent, as long as I was dry, it was good enough with me. Disposing the towel in the hamper, I made my way for the kitchen, which somehow, I knew exactly where it was without even thinking about it. It was as if the place was reading my mind and adapted itself to my own needs and wants.

The smell of grease and meat on the stove captivated my senses as I took a seat at the table. I could see Kayla readying my plate for me, it made me feel like a burden.

"Here you are honey," She laid the plate down in front of me, giving me a brief kiss on the forehead. My cheeks flushed a bit as I picked up my fork and knife.

"Hey!" Will's voice was the next to pop in, "door's unlocked so I thought I'd come in," obnoxious as always. The cocoadile walked through the front door, with Tess trailing behind him.

"We're not late are we?" Tess asked, sounding a bit rushed.

"Not at all, come sit down and help yourselves to some breakfast," Kayla waved them inside. Watching Tess take her seat, I took a bite of my scrambled eggs, savoring the rich flavor with a hum of satisfaction.

"Smells great Kayla," Will commented on the cooking as he licked his lips, wasting no time taking a seat near me.

"Thanks Will!" The mallowolf replied, smiling at the cocoadile.

"Yeah, I agree," Tess added, sniffing the air.

"Well don't hold back, there's plenty for everyone," Kayla said, placing two plates filled with a meal the piñata pair could never dream of possibly finishing.

"Geez..." Will gawked at the food, salivating a bit.

"Will, you can finish whatever I can't eat," the pink pretztail groaned at her plate, feeling full already. Kayla laughed at Tess' words as she sat down across from me, bearing her own breakfast feast as well.

Not much conversation went on as everyone was stuffing their face. Will was the nosiest eater out of us all, as if he had never enjoyed a good meal in his life up until now. The cocoadile complimented the mallowolf's cooking each time he moved on to something different. His enthusiasm made me chuckle sometimes, but we all knew the food was beyond amazing.

"Gus... You haven't said much..." Kayla noticed, "how's your breakfast?"

"It's really great, thanks Kayla," I gave an involuntary smile as I forked around with some of the food, occasionally taking a bite.

"Oh come on Gus, you know you can call me mom now," the mallowolf chuckled at my formality.

"Okay... Mom," The words felt foreign on my lips. A few moments of silence passed before Kayla spoke up again.

"So Gus, you ready for a day at the beach?" She leaned over a bit, a tad eager of my reaction, which there wasn't much by the way I answered.

"...Beach? You mean sand and...large bodies of water- Beach, right?" I spoke hesitantly.

"Of course!" Kayla nodded, "it's a sunny day outside, why waste it spending it indoors?" Usually indoors sounded good the past couple of days at the END. But what was so special about going to the beach during a sun filled day?

"Not to mention we can stare at all the hot girls there," The cocoadile expressed his perverted plans while Tess groaned, rolling her eyes.

"You do that Gus, and I'll slap you silly," She grumbled, eying me suspiciously.

"Don't worry about her Gus, there's nothing harmful in taking a quick glance at someone," Will snickered.

"Will! Don't give him any ideas!" She whined, desperate not to let Will corrupt me.

"Well if you begin to bore him, don't blame me when he's looking at other girls," the cocoadile stuck his tongue out at Tess.

"Yeah right, like that'll happen," Tess groaned.

"Guys, calm down, how about you guys get ready and I'll clean up the table," Kayla mediated.

"Fine fine..." Will said, pushing himself away from the table, "but I call dibs on the bathroom!" He shouted, rushing from his seat.

"Oh come on!" Tess growled, hopping off her seat..

"It's alright, you can change in my room Tess," Kayla offered.

"Really? Thanks!" Tess' face brightened upon hearing the mallowolf's offer.

"Sure, just don't be nosing around in there," Kayla carefully watched the pretztail leave the table as I slid off of my chair.

"I guess I'll be in my room then," I started for my room as the mallowolf's voice stopped me for a moment.

"Your swim trunks are in your lower dresser drawer Gus," she informed me before gathering up the plates.

"Alright... Thanks mom,"I headed off as she placed her pile near the sink. I gone back into my room, entering the same door I came out of. Immediately, I went for the dresser, looking through each to see what I had in them. The top two were packed with clothes I'd never though of wearing, nor plan to. The bottom had personal clothing like socks and underwear... And of course the swim trunks.

I pulled the shorts out without a second thought, however it seemed to drag a towel along with it. Assuming it was the way Kayla sorted out my clothing. I didn't question it, taking the towel anyways. Soon after slipping on my trunks, I heard Tess struggling with something in Kayla's room. There was no stopping curiosity as I ventured out and knocked on Kayla's door.

"Everything alright in there?" I asked, hoping the mallowolf didn't hear what was going on in her room.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Tess answered back, not really wanting to engage in conversation.

"You sure, it doesn't sound like it," I replied, putting my ear up to the door.

"Well if you wanna help, then be my guest," She mumbled as I went for the knob, slowly opening the door.

"So what's the..." I didn't need an answer to know what the trouble was, I could see it behind her back. She had trouble tying the strings of the top piece of her swimsuit together.

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh, I can't put this thing together to save my life," Tess groaned as I closed the door behind me.

"Nah, I won't laugh, I'd probably have trouble getting something like that on too," I admitted as I grabbed both strings and began knotting them together, making sure they wouldn't undo after taking a beating in the water.

"I'd laugh if you _did_ put one of these on Gus," The pretztail chuckled at her own response.

"Well- Not like I'd put one on or anything like that," I corrected myself, blushing a bit from the embarrassment.

"I know, but the thought just cracks me up though," her giggling died down.

"...Aaaand there, all nice and snug," I finished, testing out the resistance of the strings.

"Thanks Gus, I was just about to call in your mom to help if you didn't come by," Tess turned around, her cheeks flushed.

"Least it's better than Will helping you," it was my turn to laugh.

"Oh be quiet, Will can keep dreaming," she playfully whacked my arm as she departed from the room. I didn't need to think twice about following her as she led me out into the living room, Will was already in his swimming gear, goggles, snorkel and all.

"Kayla's in her room getting ready," Will informed us, spitting out the mouth piece of his snorkel.

"Alright..." I replied as both Tess and I took our seats on the couch across from Will. We sat there in an awkward silence for a few moments before Kayla entered the room. Too be honest, she was attractively stunning in her swim pieces, but I did my best not to stare.

"I see we're all ready!" Kayla announced as she gathered up the beach items by the door. "...Gus, I grabbed your towel, it was lying on the floor in your room," I noticed it was draped over her shoulder after she mentioned it.

"Thanks mom," I appreciated the gesture, though slightly ashamed that I forgot something.

"No problem honny, now move your tails to the car, we've got a long drive ahead of us!" As we came out the front door, I was expecting to see something similar to the G-C's we drove in the END. Boy were my expectations crushed.

"What's this?" I asked, eying up the smooth aerodynamic shape of the vehicle as Will spoke up.

"Not a G-C I can assure you..." He nodded, admiring it as well.

"It's what was driven before the darkspawn came and took everything away," Kayla interrupted as she opened the trunk so we could put our beach supplies inside. Finished with packing the trunk, we climbed inside the the vehicle. With Kayla driving and me taking the passenger side, left Tess and Will in the back. I could tell Tess was uncomfortable with it, but at least the cocoadile was behaving himself.

Once the mallowolf pulled the vehicle out of the driveway, she reminded us to click in our seat belts. We all followed her order without question. I was surprised when we got onto the road, I spotted other cars and piñatas.

"We're not the only one's here?" I asked, scratching my head.

"Of course not Gus, there's no need to live alone in paranoia anymore," my question made Kayla chuckle.

"Well... Okay," I nodded, examining the scenery that passed me by. But before things got comfortable, the mallowolf brought the car to a stop.

"What's wrong, are we out of fuel?" I asked, wondering why Kayla was stalling the vehicle, however Will decided to answer that one for her.

"We're at a stoplight genius," Will razzed me a bit as he kicked my seat.

"Oh... Alright," I acknowledged the fact once I spotted a red light perched at a pole on one of sidewalk's corners. Remtrii never had stoplights, it was common knowledge to keep an eye out for oncoming traffic.

We continued on after the light turned green, I gawked at it until it was out of my sight. After that, I was focused on the vehicles ahead of us, reading the letters and numbers pressed out from a metallic rectangle just below the trunk. Some of the words that I found off of them were quite common in Remtrii seeing as our vocabulary was long as the words in it were short.

"Let's play a car game to pass the time!" Tess chirped in, breaking my concentration.

"Car game?" I asked, wondering what sort of _games_ they were.

"Yeah..." Tess started, "like we could all tally up the cars that we pass that are a certain color or-" Will had the nerve to interrupt.

"That sounds boring," he crossed his arms, his face still holding the same dull gaze it always has.

"Then you come up with something!" Tess glared at the cocoadile.

"Fine... How about this, we spy inside the other cars we pass," The cocoadile chuckled.

"Isn't that kinda... Rude?" the pretztail replied awkwardly.

"If they find out it is," Will countered.

"You're a pervert Will..." Tess sighed, becoming irritated.

"I have an idea," Kayla chuckled, "how about I give a quiz... The winner gets bragging rights," she looked at the two pinatas through the rear view mirror.

"Bragging rights?" Will gawked at the mallowolf, "that it?"

"Trust me, it'll pass the time," Kayla aimed her eyes back on the road.

"I guess so..." The cocoadile admitted.

"Well then, to start off the quiz, I'll give you guys something easy," Kayla announced as Will chuckled at her comment. "What does the END stand for?"

"Enders of Notorious Destruction!" Tess replied almost instantaneously.

"That's right! Now for something more difficult..." Kayla snickered as I could tell she was pondering up a question to ask. "Who's the top barkbark of END?" This question really got us all thinking.

"I should know this one..." Tess scolded herself while Will was stuck in intense thought. Me, I gave up trying to come up with an answer for this one. Whether the war was over or not, I was still a newbie and didn't know such facts yet.

"I'll give you all a hint... It's a trick question!" Kayla snickered at her cleverness.

"What?" Tess' ears perked up, "that's no fair!" the pretztail grumbled.

"Meh... I quit," Will rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. It took Tess a few seconds to admit defeat as well.

"Well Gus... Do you have an answer?" Mother asked me. I shook my head, not offering a verbal response. "Okay, okay. There is no leader, the END works as a whole with a few officers in charge of each base."

"...Really?" I wondered how that could work.

"Yup," Kayla nodded, still concentrated on the road.

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Tess argued, leaning forward in her seat.

"Actually, it does when piñatas come together to fight for one goal," The mallowolf pointed out, "think about it... How much does freedom mean to you?"

"...I see." the pretztail fell back in her seat, still not convinced.

"Next question?" Will pushed the mallowolf onwards.

"Alright, alright..." Kayla took a few moments to think. "Which member of the END is a darkspawn?"

"Uhhh... This isn't another trick question is it?" Tess chuckled nervously.

"Ryan!" The cocoadile blurted out.

"That's right!" Kayla confirmed as Will stuck his tongue out at the pink pretztail in victory.

"Tie game now," Will leaned his head back into his seat.

"How was I supposed to know something like that?" Tess complained.

"Pfft, do some more investigating then," the cocoadile gave no sympathy.

"Hmph," Tess was the one to cross her arms this time.

"Shhh-, next question," the mallowolf interjected, "who's the END's greatest threat?

"The darkspawn!" I answered without even thinking about it.

"You got it Gus!" Kayla cheered as the piñatas in back groaned.

"Now it really _is_ a tie game..." Will grumbled.

"Oh come on guys, where's your sportsmanship?" Kayla glanced back at them through the rear view mirror. There was a moment of silence as no one could answer that question. "Alright then, last question, whoever gets this one, wins it all," she took a few seconds to think it over. "Hmmm... Actually, I think I see the beach up ahead," The mallowolf pointed out.

"...I guess everyone has bragging rights then," Tess scratched her head.

"How's that supposed to work?" Will replied, feeling cheated.

"Maybe another time we'll finish it," Kayla laughed as the beach came into clear view. I was captivated by how much water there was, I don't think I've seen a bigger body of water in my life. My eyes locked onto it until Will kicked my chair to get my attention.

"Gus! Anyone home? We've been trying to get your attention!" The cocoadile kept flailing his feet at my chair.

"I get it, I get it, I was just zoning out okay?" I yelled back at him.

"Well I guess you couldn't see that we've parked already..." Will said sarcastically as he unbuckled himself, wasting no time exiting the vehicle. I quickly noticed everyone else was outside as well. Not wanting to be left behind, I got myself out of my seat as fast as possible.

The other piñatas were gathered around the trunk, pulling out the supplies they wanted. My mother handed me my towel before lugging up a cooler that seemed to be packed heavily with odds and ends.

"Let me help you," I grabbed one of the side handles, helping Kayla place the cooler onto the concrete.

"Thanks Gus," She ruffled up my hair before going back to retrieve more items, but before I could go and help her, Will tugged me by the arm.

"Come on Gus, let me show ya around here," the cocoadile chuckled.

"Oh no ya' don't!" Tess objected, tugging me away by my other arm.

"Ugh, fine then, Geez," Will surrendered me over to Tess before things turned ugly.

"You're not turning Gus into a perverted monster Will," the pretztail stomped off, nearly dragging me along with her.

"Ah! Watch it," I almost tripped over my own feet by the way she yanked me along.

"Oh... Sorry Gus," Tess laughed nervously, loosening her grip and letting her paw fall from my arm to my paw. We walked paw in paw onto the beach. That's when my sight was fixated on beach water. The horrid memories started to come back with me with each step we took.

"Y'know Tess..." I dropped my towel and fell into a sitting position into the sand, just a few inches before the shoreline, "why don't we just sit down instead?" I shivered, ripping my eyes away from the water.

"Um... Why? We didn't go to the beach just to look at the water..." The pretztail crossed her arms, shooting me a sad look that filled me up with guilt.

"Well... To be honest, I don't know how to swim," I started to beat around the bush, not revealing what really kept me from going into the water.

"That's all?" Tess giggled, "You could've said that _before_ we left the car, I would have gotten out some water wings, come on!" She tugged at my paw, trying to work me back to my feet.

"Uhh... You go on without me, I'll wait here for you," I fought against her, keeping my seat as I dug my feet into the sand.

"Oh alright," the pretztail sighed as she slipped away, letting my paw drop onto my legs. My eyes slowly crept back towards the water. Soon, my body started shivering as it was too paralyzed to move away.

"You cold Gus?" My mother's voice entered my head it snapped me out of my trance.

"N-n-no, just a little nervous," I replied, my body calming down a bit.

"About what Gus?" Kayla knelt down besides me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"...The water..." I scooted closer into her embrace.

"...What's wrong with the water?" She ask, squeezing me a bit tighter.

"I... I can't swim..." I also hid the truth from my mother.

"Oh, that's not a problem dear, I can help you out with that!" The mallowolf smiled as her arm released me, soon going for my paw as she stood up. "It won't hurt, I promise," she told me as her feet stepped into the water. My rear was still planted on the ground, determined not to budge in the slightest.

"...You sure?" I asked, keeping my ground.

"Gus, I'm your mother, I wouldn't let a taffly hurt you!" She chuckled as she tugged a bit harder, persistent to get me into the water.

"...Fiiiine," I groaned, lifting myself up. I hesitated a bit, taking baby steps into the water. My body started shivering again as the touch of the water was extremely chilling. "It's so c-cold," I complained, hoping to get back onto the sand.

"That's normal Gus, just give it awhile to let yourself warm up to it, take your steps when you're ready, alright?" Kalya rubbed my back, nudging me along a bit towards the deeper end.

"O-oka-a-ay..." My teeth chattered as my knees skimmed the icy boarder.

"Just keep pacing yourself," she guided me further until my stomach was submerged.

"Nn-n-n-nh," I crossed my arms, trying to warm myself up.

"Come on Gus, it's not gonna kill you," the mallowolf laughed at my chill stricken tone.

"B-b-but it's so co-o-o-old-d-d!" My body shook violently, but before I saw it coming, my whole body was submerged underwater. Having old, haunting memories come to life, I flailed about, punching and kicking at the unknown force so I could emerge and breathe again.

"Geez Gus, no need to get feisty, I was just rushing the process," Kayla spoke as my head popped back up.

"Y-y-you were tr-tr-trying to d-d-drown m-me!" I accused her, regaining my footing on the sand below.

"No I wasn't, going into the water all at once gets it done and over with and you'll be used to it faster," the mallowolf explained.

"But y-y-you told m-me to t-t-take my t-t-time!" I argued, crossing my arms again for warmth.

"To be honest, I was kinda a little impatient," the mallowolf stuck her tongue out at me.

"Ugh... W-whatever," I began to walk away before Kayla grabbed my paw and pulled me back.

"Oh no, we're not done yet mister," she chuckled.

"What?" I objected, though her strength proved to be more stronger than mine.

"I intend to teach you how to swim!" She pulled me to the point where I didn't have a floor to stand on. My arms and legs paddled and kicked urgently to stay afloat. Too busy to keep myself above water, I didn't realize that Kayla's paws were also holding me up until she annoucned, "good, good. Now I'm gonna let go..."

"Oh please don't," I muttered under my wheezing breath. Luckily, I was able to keep myself up without any trouble, it was an amazing achievement I thought was never possible. A chain of laughs came from my throat as I swam in place, enjoying the sensation as I finally warmed up. My eyes spotted the top of Will's head bobbing in the water not that far away.

The sly cocoadile was observing the shore, where a few appealing women were bouncing a leather-like ball back and forth over a fenced net with much enthusiasm. Will was captivated by their movements and I almost was too. I snapped myself out of it as I almost started drowning again from not paddling against the water.

"You liar!" Tess' angry voice almost made me pee myself seeing as I was still facing the ladies on the beach. "You said you didn't know how to swim!" I turned around, relieved to know she called me out on a completely different subject.

"I... I didn't," I noticed that Kayla had abandoned me, "but Kayla gave me quick lessons..." I chuckled.

"Suuurre," Tess rolled her eyes as she splashed a small wave of water at me, it was then the memories came back so clearly...

Apparently, back when I was a child in Remtrii, I had somehow enraged a group of young delinquents that were older and bigger than myself. How I ticked them off was beyond me, but their method of torture was suffocating their victims underwater. I tried eluding them through the woods when they gave chase, but there were too many of them to actually lose them completely.

They had captured me and took me to a nearby river where they proceeded to get rid of me for good, It was a good five minute fight for life with insults in between before the racket attracted the attention of feral piñatas. Fortunately, the river washed me away once they had abandoned me, saving me the trouble of being torn to pieces by the ferals.

However, before I could recall any more of my nightmare, I came back to reality. Back at the beach shore, my eyes caught Tess' silhouette hanging over me.

"Oh thank goodness you're all right Gus!" She fell on top of me with a hug. "I didn't know you would spaz out from a little bit of splashing."

"Ugh... Wait," I groaned, feeling a bit sore, "that's what happened? I only remember blacking out after you pelted me with water," I admitted, rubbing my head in confusion.

"Yeah, but you fell backwards into the water and didn't bob back up, so I went down after you," Tess brushed a paw through my tangled hair gently.

"Oh... Well thanks for saving me," I chuckled embarrassingly, knowing that I let a little water almost drown me.

"No need to thank me Gus, I'm just doing my job," the pink pretztail winked at me, sending a weird weird vibe up my chest, but it passed as soon as came. "Anyways, Kayla's setting up our lunch, were you feeling hungry?"

"Not really..." I recalled this morning's giant meal, "but I'll join you guys anyways, I think I've had enough water for awhile now."

"Alright then," Tess took a hold of my paw and led us away from the water. It took a little while to gain my land legs back, but as soon as regain my ability to walk normal I was smiling from ear to ear. As we approached the others, I saw Will drying off, shooting a glance at the girls by the net now and then. However his actions didn't go unnoticed by Tess, who ripped him a new one.

"You know no one's gonna go out with you if you act like a big perv!" Tess scowled as she took a seat on her towel.

"Who says I was planning on a love life anyway?" The cocoadile turned to the pink pretztail and stuck his tongue out at her briefly.

"Hmph, fine then," Tess retorted, tugged at my arm for me to sit down. I instantly complied, not wanting to make her any more mad. Kayla took her nose out of the cooler, bearing a few bagged up sandwiches, chips, and a plenty of refreshing drinks.

"You kids calm down, we're here to have fun, remember?" The mallowolf chuckled as she placed the snacks down between the four of us. Tess and Will didn't hesitate to start chowing down. I studied the two awkwardly, feeling like I was pressured to eat. "...Not hungry Gus?" Mother asked me.

"Not really, swimming took a lot out of me, including my appetite," I admitted, rubbing my stirred up stomach tenderly.

"Awh, Well I'll save you some for later then alright, I'll make sure no one touches it," Kayla smiled as she stuck a sandwich back into the cooler. "But you should have something to drink Gus, it's hot out and it's good to keep the fluids going,"

"Fluids...Going?" I asked, slightly confused about what she meant. Tess was able to answer that for me.

"To keep yourself hydrated," Tess informed me between bites.

"Oh, alright," I searched beyond the cans to find the juice boxes, immediately I plucked out one that was labeled 'apple juice.' It took me awhile, but Tess took over and showed me that you rip off the straw on the side and puncture the top of the box with it.

"Here you go Gus," The pretztail handed the juice box back to me, I held it in both paws as I took a sip, savoring the magical flavor.

"Thanks Tess," I smiled at her, taking another sip as she ate her way through the sandwich.

"...Well I'm done," Will announced with an obnoxious burp.

"...You rashberry..." Tess glowered at the cocoadile for his lack of manners.

"Meh," Will shrugged his shoulders as he stood up and returned to his... Observing activities. Tess growled a bit.

"Hey, be lucky he's not one of the usual savages from Remtrii, Trust me, they're impossible to get along with," I explained, trying to lift her spirits some.

"...Your right, at least Will doesn't randomly make moves on me," the pretztail giggled some, imagining the thought.

"That's cause he respects our relationship, you won't find much respect in Remtrii," I nodded, admiring Will for being a few steps above Remtrii material.

"Ouch... How'd you survive there again?" She asked.

"...Very carfully," I laughed, knowing I could afford to now that our lives weren't controlled by the war.

"Geez Gus, that's very informative," Tess joined in the laughter.

"I know it's not Tess... It's just it'd take hours of explaining to tell you everything that I had to go through each day... And I think we can put that all behind us finally," I locked in eye contact with her.

"Yeah..." The pretztail broke it to gaze out towards the shoreline, "I never thought I'd be sitting at a beach, enjoying a sight like this," she let out a long, smooth sigh as she took in her surroundings.

"...Me either," there was a short pause before her paw slowly covered itself over mine. I glanced at it quickly, not wanting my curiosity to be caught by her eyes. To cover it up, I pretended to search around for Kayla, who once again, disappeared mysteriously. Tess giggled, her paw now grasping mine. My cheeks warmed up instantly as I wondered what was going on in her mind.

"It's a shame we can't stay here forever," Tess exhaled before leaning her head on my shoulder.

"...Y-yeah," I felt a bit awkward... But to be honest, it was the _good_ kind of awkward. She snuggled her head in deeper, causing me to giggle a bit. "That tickles..."

"Sorry," she chuckled to herself as I could feel her breath on my mache. It felt as if time stood still, but it was actually the opposite. Before I knew it, the sun began to set and Kayla started packing up our belongings.

"You kids ready to get going?" Kayla asked as Will followed her from behind, obviously enjoying the view.

"Awwh," Tess whined, "do we have too?" I felt her paw squeeze mine tightly as she protested.

"I'm afraid so Tess," Kayla rolled up the towels, "...Be a dear and help me Gus," she ruffled up my hair as she asked.

"...Alright," I tugged my paw away, beginning to help Kayla with cleaning up. Tess let out another whine, already missing the time we spent together. Picking up and packing didn't take that long, it was just a few minutes before we were all back inside the vehicle.

"...Aren't the streetlights pretty?" Tess commented as we got back onto the road, the sun gone from the sky.

"...Yeah," I began to admire each one we came across once she pointed them out.

"I'd rather have them out so I can see the moon and stars better," Will countered, trying to stargaze out the window.

"Stargazing okay..." Tess somewhat agreed, "but I'd take the city lights over stars any day,"

"City lights'll burn out someday, the stars are forever," the cocoadile pointed out.

"Well I know that the city will at least live far longer than I will, so I have nothing to worry about," the pretztail smirked.

"Tch... Whatever," Will gave up and crossed his arms, still watching out the window.

The rest of the drive was done in silence until we reached Will's house.

"Thanks for everything today Kayla, it was an amazing day," Will yawned as he climbed out of the vehicle. We quickly traded our goodbyes before going a few blocks ahead to Tess' house. She unbuckled herself from her seat before planting a quick kiss on my cheek, heating it up right away.

"I had a great time with you guys. We'll have to do this again sometime soon, alright?" She said before hoping out. We waved each other off before we headed back home.

"Home sweet home Gus..." Kayla pulled into the driveway, turning the vehicle off. I remained silent, as if there wasn't much to say anyways. The cold air greeted me as we made our exit, causing me to shiver a bit. "Hold on honny, I gotta fish out my keys," the mallowolf dug through her shoulder bag, soon finding what she was looking for.

As she opened the door, I could feel the heat pour out of the house, warming us up quickly. I stood awkwardly inside, wondering what to do next now that my friends were gone. There was a new feeling in my chest, it was somewhat like guilt, but more empty inside. But before I could pin it down to what it was, Kayla had came in with half of the beach suppiles.

"I'll take care of putting things away, why don't you head off to bed Gus, it's gonna be big day tomorrow. Best to get to bed as soon as possible," Kayla shooed me off.

"What's happening tomorrow?" I asked as I started walking to my room.

"...It's a surprise," Kayla winked as she went back outside to retrieve the rest of the supplies.

Not arguing about it, I went up to bed anyways. The hint of a surprise filled some of the void in my chest. Taking in a deep breath of air, I took my shorts off and jumped into bed. Combating the chills around my hips and thighs, I covered up between the sheets, keeping myself warm.

A few minutes later I heard Kayla step into my room. Even thought my eyes were closed, I could feel her weight on the bed as she sat near me. Her paw brushed the hair out of my eyes as I tried my hardest not to laugh from the tickling sensation it gave me.

"...Good night Gus," She gave me a small kiss on the forehead which forced a slight smile out of me. I felt her paw stroking my hair again, the touch began to relax me rather than tickle. A few minutes passed before her paws began to shake me awake instead, but the voice was much, much different.


	8. DAY 5: Brought to an END

**DAY 5: Brought to an END**

"Gus, Gus!" Tess' voice echoed in my head as I was shook awake, torn away from the new life that I called paradise.

"Wha-... What happened?" I asked, seeing her hold the sleepy porchipine child tight in one arm as I lifted myself into a sitting position.

"The bomb has been planted and all of END is on the edge of it's seat!" Tess was smiling from ear to ear.

"Bomb? ...No! I mean, I was at the beach, and then at home... Now here," I sighed, missing what I had previously experienced.

"...You were probably dreaming Gus, I take it you don't have them very often," Tess' excitement had calmed as she took a seat next to me.

"Dreaming... It must have been my first then," I wiped my eyes clean of dust, "it felt so real..."

"I know Gus, sometimes my dreams feel like reality too," the pretztail rubbed my back for a few seconds before nudging me off the bed. "Anyways, you should come to the main room, everyone's counting down till the bomb goes off!" her smile returned.

"Oh yeah, the bomb..." I began to follow her until it hit me, stopping me in my tracks. "Wait, Bomb?" I tugged on Tess' arm.

"Yeah, the one you and Kayla delivered to the northern END base," the pretztail turned to face me.

"...You mean that was a _bomb_?" I shouted, apparently waking up the child with my outburst.

"Gus!" Tess scolded me as she tried to hush the infant back to sleep. "...Yes, that was a bomb!" She replied in an angry whisper.

"...I can't believe it, that whole time we've been delivering a bomb..." My vision spaced out as I recalled the moments, thankful it never went off during the trip.

"Yes, and END loves you more for it," Tess mumbled as she headed off without me, expecting me to catch up.

"Hey, wait up!" I trotted faster, soon finding a small gathering of piñatas crowded around one area in the operation's room. Investigating further, everyone was hunched over Evan, or what looked like him as far as I could tell. Phil emerged from the crowd and pulled me in without a word.

"Hey!" I yelled as I was devoured by the crowd, only to be answered with a 'shhh.' It had totally slipped my mind that the whole room was in dead silence. Maybe it was because I was still caught up with my recent dream and the fact that my cargo was a bomb. "Sorry..." I kept my voice down, "what is this all anyways?" I asked Phil, taking a glance at Evan's screen which displayed a map of the island. On the map the location of the bomb was displayed along with the amount of time that was left before detonation.

"The moment of freedom Gus," The fudgehog whispered back as I studied the screen further, the bomb was placed near the northern END base, close to the borders. I assumed that once the bomb was planted that everyone in the base has evacuated to another base. "Just a handful of seconds now," the fudgehog muttered under his breath as we watched the seconds tick away.

It felt anti-climactic once the clock ran out. However the borders closest to the bomb started to fade away, starting a chain reaction. My eyes followed the trail intensely, watching the two tails being eaten away by the explosion. As they came our way, I swear I could feel a small vibration shaking the base slightly. The cheers didn't start until the walls were all gone.

"We did it Gus!" Phil surprised me with a giant embrace, nearly squeezing the life out of me.

"I... Can see... That, sir," I gasped for air as the fudgehog let me go.

"Heh heh, sorry," he apologized, not knowing his own strength. Most of the crowd made their way down to the lounge without any mentioning of it, most likely to party their to their heart's content if I had to guess. "Hey, why don't we go down to the lounge ourselves?" Phil suggested.

"...As long as you don't force me to drink anything I don't like," I replied seriously.

"Oh come on Gus, live a little," he patted me on the back, soon leading me down the stairs. I sighed heavily as we made out way to the party.

"Heh," I gawked at the scene, it was pretty packed. Not to mention all the seats were taken, leaving the other pinatas to use fold-out chairs or the floor if need be.

"I don't think I've seen the END this rowdy since... Well, ever," Phil laughed, "wait here, I'll grab you something," The fudgehog instructed me before making his way into the crowd gathered around the bar. His absence gave me some time to think. Seeing as all the walls are down, was the war over? I mean, I never heard of the darkspawn themselves being defeated, just the walls that contained us being brought down.

Something wasn't right. I knew it wasn't as bad vibes crawled up my spine and into my shoulders. Instantly, two paws turned me around.

"Congratulations Gus," The paws belonged to Ryan, who looked like he forced a smile.

"Heh-heh, thanks Ryan," I returned the forced gesture, trying to keep a hold on my thoughts.

"...Yeah, that delivery must've been one helluva trip huh?" Ryan commented, crossing his arms idly.

"...Don't remind me..." I cut the topic off there, not wanting to relive the memories.

"Sorry..." The pieena's eyes wandered around for another topic to start. "Well tell me about the white fudgehog infant you picked up along the way," his sight set back on me again.

"You mean Kain? He's a porchipine," I wondered how he could get the species mixed up, because I know gossip travels fast around here.

"Oh sorry," Ryan cleared his throat a bit, "...So Kain's his name? ...I like it," Ryan nodded.

"Uh-huh, Tess picked it out for him," I chuckled a bit.

"Heh, first few days in the END and you're already starting a family," Ryan joked... Or at least I hope he was.

"Hey guys!" Will's short stature emerged from the tall crowd, taking both of us off guard.

"Hi Will," I waved while the pieena only nodded. I noticed that cocoadile was having trouble keeping his balance.

"Nice party we're having... Huh?" Will said with a hiccup, almost slurring his words.

"...I guess," I wasn't a fan of big crowds. Ryan kept silent, watching the cocoadile in hopes that the poor piñata would fall on his tail.

"You _guess_?" Will seemed to have a problem with that.

"...Yeah," I scratched the back of my head, wondering why he would get agitated over that.

"...Meh, whatever," Will waddled back from where he came, still keeping himself on his feet.

"...If you think he's drunk now, just wait till later," Ryan informed me, holding back his laughter.

"Drunk?" My thoughts carried me back to when my mother mentioned about my father being drunk all the time. "...So that's what being drunk is like," I mumbled, wincing at the last place I spotted the cocoadile at. No wonder my mother had a problem with my father's drinking habits, it had turned piñatas into unintelligible beings!

"Yeah... I keep forgetting that you're not from around here, so our lingo's a little too... complicated for ya," Ryan tried to put it in a way that wouldn't offend me.

"No-no, I know what it means... It's just I never seen anyone like _that_ before," I glanced back to the pieena.

"Ah, I understand... Anyways, I think I've had enough partying for one lifetime," Ryan yawned before heading upstairs, not expecting a goodbye of any sort. Once Ryan left, Phil came rushing back.

"Hopefully I wasn't too long, the android bartender was overloaded with requests and overheated on the job!"

"Oh wow!" I ended up laughing as I pictured it happening in my head.

"Yeeeah, they had to replace the tin can with real piñatas," Phil smirked as he held up a glass near my face. "Anyways, Tess said this was your favorite," I took the glass in my paw, thinking of the only drink she could have suggested to him: Apple juice. Without any hesitation, I downed the whole thing. The taste had a sweet reunion with my tongue as I licked the rim of the glass for more.

"Oooh- slow down there Gus, That's the last of the apple juice you're drinking there!" Phil's warning was too late. My eyes locked in with the fudgehog's as I stopped drinking completely.

"Last... Apple... Juice?" The glass slipped through my paws and shattered on the floor.

"Gus!" Phil shouted as he jumped back from the shards. It took me a few moments to register what had happened. I was thankful that it didn't draw _too_ much attention seeing as the place was booming with chatter and music. "Ugh..." Phil was eying up the mess. Luckily, someone from behind the bar came to sweep up the shards in a flash.

"Sorry sir..." I sighed, sitting myself against a wall.

"...It's alright, just don't let it happen again," the fudgehog took a seat next to me. There was a moment of silence before I asked a question.

"...What happens after this?" I gave Phil full eye contact.

"After what?" he replied, not understanding what I was getting at.

"Well the walls are torn down, what do we do now?" I questioned.

"We do what any caged animal would do when their door's open: Escape," the fudgehog gazed up at the ceiling, probably day dreaming about his freedom. "I'll be able to explore the world..."

"And I can go back to Remtrii..." I said, "...But I don't want to... I just wish we could stay here forever," I felt the emptiness return to my chest.

"How come?" Phil asked.

"I've met so many people here, started so many friendships, I actually feel alive ever since I was accepted... I just can't go back to the life I've grown up with... Besides, no one there even knows my name... Even if I am some war hero," I sighed, realizing the truth.

"Well... No one's stopping you from staying, just know that most of us won't be here if you do." Those words hurt me even more. I drew up my knees and folded my arms around them so I could hide my face behind my limbs to conceal my tears. "Aww Gus, don't go soft on me!" The fudgehog consoled me by rubbing my back. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll stop by to check up on you now and then between trips, howzat?" Phil offered.

It got me to come out of my shell. I wiped my tears away before nodding. "What about Will, Tess, and Kayla?" I thought about what they would do now that we've gotten our freedom.

"Well Tess'll be by your side, I know that for a fact," the fudgehog smiled as he gave me a nod, "and Kayla's got to watch over you seeing as that's a mother's job and all... And Will... I don't think anyone knows what he's gonna be doing with his life after this," he shrugged his shoulders, "but I doubt it'll be anything drastic."

"Thanks sir, I won't have to worry about that anymore..." A small grin grew on my face.

"Gus, call me Phil now, you don't have to be formal anymore," The fudgehog laughed.

"Heh... I'll try, but I can't promise that I can stick with that," I chuckled nervously as Evan came bolting down the stairs.

"Phil!" the yellow fudgehog shouted at his brother shortly after picking him out of the crowd, "bad news!"

"Now? Aw, Evan..." Phil climbed to his feet, dealing with a recent buzz-kill. I had the curiosity to follow them, because whatever Evan had to say about this _bad news_ was certainly going to be important. We rushed over to the monitor that everyone was hunched over before. The walls were still down, but apparently that wasn't the problem we were looking at.

"Listen to this!" Evan pulled up an audio message for us to hear. The voice that spoke out was extremely menacing.

_Well well well, I never expected you scum to come this far to tasting your freedom, but I'm afraid you're sentence isn't up yet. This means anyone caught escaping into the ocean will be shot at sight. Surveillance has doubled, as well as your chances of dying... And for those of you cowering underground, come out and play. _

The message ends there, only to repeat once again.

"It's vital we act fast," Evan started, "I've captured some photos of the outside via security cams, you'll never believe what plan the darkspawn are carrying out!"

"You sure it's the darkspawn doing this?" Phil asked, hoping this was all a joke.

"Yes! Now if you'll look at these..." The yellow fudgehog pulled up some images onto the screen. Even my breath had been taken away by them. Massive war machines that were soaring in the skies. Something like this seemed impossible, especially on Remtrii. But I guess there was no way to doubt these... _flying machines_ now. "Those photos are all I could obtain before I had to disarm the security for precautionary measures, in case they spotted us."

"Smart thinking..." Phil commented, still staring hard at the pictures.

"...What are we going to do about this?" I questioned to both fudgehogs, knowing at least one of them would answer.

"We're going to fight back," Phil answered, breaking his gaze to look at me.

"How? They've got flying machines!" I reminded him.

"Simple: Fight fire with fire," The fudgehog said, placing a paw around my shoulder and leading me off. "Evan, send a warning throughout the base... This war's not over yet," Phil ordered over his shoulder at his brother.

"Already on it," Evan received the message as he turned on the alarms. The sirens blared for a few moments, making my ears ring uncomfortably. Once we got into the lounge, everyone was disoriented and confused about the warning.

"Battle stations everyone!" Phil yelled over the siren, "this is not a drill! To battle stations and await further orders from Evan!" The piñatas dispersed, some going upstairs, some going into the hangar. Phil led me with the crowd that was going into the hangar.

"About fighting fire with fire..." I began, still walking with the fudgehog.

"Yes? What about it?" Phil asked as the hangar doors opened.

"Do you mean we're going out there with a... Flying machine?"

"Yep, you and a select few others as well,"

"O-others? You mean we're all flying our own machine?"

"You're all flying _a_ machine, an A-R to be exact," sounded something like a G-C

"A-R, sir?" I had to ask.

"Air Rider," the fudgehog explained as we boarded the lift, but instead of ascending, the elevator had other plans and sent us heading the other way.

"...Where are we going sir?" the elevator shaft had darkened, only having the dim interior lights to show the outlines of our bodies.

"The A-R hangar... We've built this A-R and practically raised it from a prototype. This flying beast went through many, and I mean _many_ modifications," once the elevator hit the bottom, the wall ahead of us pulled apart from the middle, revealing the light. "Say hello to the A-R1012!" My eyes had to adjust before I could see the the mini behemoth myself. The doors slammed shut behind us, the sound they made caused my ears to recoil a bit.

"...You sure this is going to bring all those other flying machines down?" I asked as Phil typed into his M-W-M. It took him awhile until he gave me a full answer.

"Not all of them," The fudgehog looked back up to me.

"Then what are we planing on doing with this? Escaping?"

"Escape? You gotta be joking! We're gonna take out the leader's aircraft," the fudgehog slapped me on the back as he chuckled.

"Well.. how do we tell which one's the leader's flying machine?" I asked.

"It's going to be the biggest one out there, trust me, it'll be extremely hard to miss," The doors opened again, this time bearing my friends... Minus Will, but adding Ryan.

"So what did ya call us in for boss?" Kayla crossed her arms, not wanting to save the day again.

"Each of you guys will be assigned a role in the A-R here," Phil replied, "it's gonna be all or nothing this time and there's no going back now."

"Aaand roles?" the mallowolf requested more information.

"Roles, yes... Kayla, you'll be piloting the A-R," for a second, it looked like she hesitated at his word. "Tess," his eyes glanced over to the pink pretztail.

"Yes sir?" She stepped forward.

"You'll be running the A-R maintenance, make it your life to keep that thing running in tip-top shape,"

"Will do, sir," Tess bowed her head briefly.

"Gus..." Phil turned himself towards me,"You'll be manning the turrets,"

"Huh, me? Why?" My eyes widened in shock.

"Cause Kayla threw in a good word about you yesterday," I glanced over to the mallowolf who was glancing around at the others with shady eyes, hoping her nasty reputation wouldn't be tarnished.

"Th-thanks Kayla..." I swallowed hard, hoping she wouldn't kill me afterwords for rubbing it in.

"...And Ryan," Phil glared at him as if he knew the pieena was being lazy this whole time.

"Y-yes sir?" Ryan gazed at the fudgehog with nervous eyes.

"You'll be infiltrating the leader's aircraft and bring it down by any means necessary. As everyone here knows, you're the only darkspawn in this END base, so you'll be able to blend in without even trying."

"But sir, don't they wear cloaking armo- Ooof!" Phil cut the pieena off by tossing him a suit of armor that was similar to the armor that the darkspawn that captured me in Remtrii was wearing.

"Taken care of," The fudgehog brushed his paws together.

"... Thanks," Ryan rolled his eyes, donning on the gear without question.

"How's one person like Ryan going to take out a giant flying machine?" I asked.

"Through sabotage," Phil replied, nodding his head, "I'm sure he'll find a way, won't'cha ryan," he patted the pieena on the back a few times.

"Of course sir..." Ryan hid his face within the helmet, his voice becoming more electronic.

"Check to see if that suit's still functioning," Kayla suggested as she tested her knuckles against it.

"Hmm..." Ryan examined the armor, trying to find the controls, "...How do I do that?" His question got met with an open paw to the back of the head, courtesy of Kayla. "Ow!" Instantly, Ryan disappeared from sight within a blink of an eye.

"Well that got it to work," Kayla admired her work, or at least where it last was seen. "Ooow!" the clicking sound of metal hitting skull entered my ears as Kayla flinched back.

"Quit it you guys!" Phil stopped their shenanigans before a fight could erupt. Both piñatas apologized to the fudgehog. "Anyways, get inside and I'll give you the rest of the details," Kayla was the first to approach the A-R, pressing a button on the side to get the doors to unlatch. I thought it was pretty clever that the bottom half of the door had stairs on it to assist with climbing in. We made our way to the front of the A-R, taking out seats. You could tell Phil had planned the attack out seeing as there was just enough seats for all of us.

"Can you read me?" Phil's voice echoed through the interior of the A-R as the doors sealed themselves up.

"Yuuup," Kayla replied to the call as she configured the setup of the A-R.

"...Great, just tell me when you guys are ready for take off!" Phil clicked out as Kayla brought up the main screen, showing us what was in front of the A-R.

"...So I guess this is it huh?" Ryan mumbled to himself, however his helmet amplified it so we all could hear it.

"For you maybe," Kayla turned her head at the invisible being, "but I expect to live a few more hours than you," the mallowolf grumbled as she focused back on her work.

"I guess I deserve it anyways..." The pieena replied as Kayla turned the A-R around to to face the giant hallway behind it.

"Don't say that..." Tess showed sympathy without even knowing Ryan's back story.

"Everyone hates me at END, even Phil... That's why he put me in this position," his statement made Kayla groan irritably as she slammed a fist into the seat's armrest.

"He put you here cause you were sitting on your lazy ass and you know it!" The mallowolf argued.

"I only played lazy because I didn't want to help in killing anyone, I put that part of my life behind me... But it always rears it's ugly head back to haunt me sometimes..." Ryan sighed.

"We all have a sob story kid, what makes yours any different?" Kayla answered back with a rhetorical question, which silenced Ryan.

"...Come on Kayla," I spoke up, "give Ryan a break... If I remember correctly, you weren't fond of the idea of killing other piñatas were you?" my statement caused the mallowolf to hesitate a bit.

"S-so? Doesn't mean I'm gonna quit and cry about it when we still have hell to deal with!"

"Everyone deals with problems in their own way, why criticize Ryan just because he doesn't want to fight anymore?"

"Because he's dead weight, that's why! He's just another mouth to feed if he doesn't do anything to contribute to the cause!"

"That's cold Kayla..." I crossed my arms, forgetting all about the mother I've come to know.

"So what? In this world, it's kill or be killed. Ryan should've been on his knees thanking us for all the hospitality we gave him, and without any work in return," her comment left us all in silence, that is until she broke it to contact Phil. "Ready whenever you are boss."

"Alrighty then. I'm pulling the A-R over to the take-off pad, make sure the cloaking gear is on. That's the last thing I need: You guys getting shot down immediately after lift-off."

"Don't worry about it, Kayla flicked around a few switches and turned a few knobs, following Phil's advice. I couldn't help but glance at Ryan every now and then, the poor pieena couldn't keep still, as if the suit didn't match his curves right.

"You hanging in there Ryan?" I asked.

"...Trying," Ryan spoke with a shaken voice.

"Don't bother talking to him," Kayla faced me, "he's already dead."

"Sh...Shut-up! Maybe if you weren't such a grouch towards everyone you meet, maybe you'd actually have some friends!" I shouted back as the mallowolf froze for a moment. Eventually, she turned back to her work with nothing else to say.

"...I wish we could just all get along..." Tess murmured to herself as she stared down at her own paws. "...We're all risking life and limb out there. Whether you're a Ryan, or a Kayla, it shouldn't matter now. What we should do is make the best of things and try to get along... At least for the sake of freedom..." Nothing but silence afterwords... Either her words hit them hard, or not at all.

"You guys are ready to go!" Phil chirped in, shaking us from the silence that had set in.

"Got'cha..." Kayla said unenthusiastically as she started up the A-R, which surprisingly made no noise whatsoever. I held onto my seat for dear life as the A-R sprung into air, catching me completely off guard. Scanning over the others, I came to believe that Kayla was the only one unfazed by the A-R's sharp jump in altitude. Once we made it above ground level, my eyes widened at the number of other flying machines that were in the air.

"What a swarm..." Tess gasped as we all gawked at the screen.

"You sure we're even gonna make it there?" I asked the mallowolf.

"Yeah, just keep your mouth shut and let me do all the operating here," she grumbled, wanting to work in silence. We entered into the offensive mass slowly and cautiously. Kayla kept a sharp eye out for any oncoming projectiles and other flying machines, careful not to run the A-R into anything that might disrupt the cloaking device. The device needed to hold out until we got Ryan into the leader's flying machine, which we still had no idea where it was.

Kayla's piloting became more and more erratic as we navigated through the storm of flying machines, causing me and the others to hold on to our seats again. My teeth clenched together as I kept my stomach under control from all the ups and downs.

"Don't you dare think about barfing," Kayla growled once she heard my stomach acting up.

"I'll try not to... No promises on that..." I groaned from the motion sickness. It was then Tess grabbed onto my paw for support. My queasiness started to fade away as I glanced up at her, her eyes locking in with mine.

"I'm here for you..." She nearly mouthed out, probably fighting her own stomach if I had to guess. I turned over to Ryan, who I could tell was slouched over because the seat belts were stretching out.

"...Ryan, you alright?" As soon as I asked that, Kayla started grumbling about something under her breath.

"Just be quiet!" Ryan forced out with heavy lungs.

"...Sorry," I mumbled to myself.

"...I believe I found what we're looking for!" Kayla grabbed our attention, pointing to the largest flying machine on the screen, which wasn't so big in the distance. It grew in size as we approached it, but it wasn't moving at all, just floating idly above the desert.

"...And how are we supposed to get Ryan into _that_ thing?" I asked the mallowolf.

"I'm sure there's a hangar of some sort where it stores all the other aircrafts that're flying all over the place... And I'm sure it's big enough to hold them all," she said as we got closer to the monstrous flying machine.

"_Is it even possible for something so big to be _flying_ like that_?" I thought to myself, unable to remove my eyes from the sight. Apparently anything was believable at this point as Kayla stopped the A-R in midair and began scanning the flying machine over using the A-R's technology. It took a handful of seconds before Kayla was on the move again.

"I've found it!" The mallowolf shouted as the A-R nearly gave us whiplash.

"Aaah! That hurt!" Tess' face scrunched up in pain as she consoled the back of her neck. There was no response from Kayla, she either was too busy leading us to our destination, or had enough of our _complaining_ to even offer a response. I didn't dare question it vocally as that would get me a face full of unwanted mallowolf.

I felt another paw on my shoulder. Knowing Tess' paws were to herself, I assumed it was Ryan. My eyes glanced over to the invisible pieena for a brief moment as his paw fell into mine, grasping for my assistance. A smile curved on my lips as I squeezed his paw a bit, giving him all the courage I could through our paws alone.

"Good luck... I believe in you," my words of support were so quiet that I hoped that Ryan could read lips.

"This is your stop... Darkspawn," Kayla rubbed the fact in the poor pieena's face with a crap-eating grin as the A-R came to an abrupt stop. Scanning over the main screen again, our A-R was stalling inside their hangar. Even though we were invisible, I was still thankful for the fact that the place was completely vacant of life.

Ryan gave my paw one last tight clinch before shaking it away, unbuckling himself with his other paw.

"It was nice knowing you Gus..." His voice was shaken some as he stood up, the mallowolf opening the doors from the inside.

"I know you can do this Ryan..." I whispered back, hoping Kayla wouldn't hear me, "and come back alive..."

"Tch, fat chance," The mallowolf cackled, overhearing my comment. I decided to hold back my tongue, refusing to fuel the fire. Instead, I watched, or as best as I could, the pieena plunge into enemy territory. "...Time to go back home," Kayla sighed, as if that was the whole mission.

"That's it? We're just gonna go back with our tail between our legs?" I scowled as Kayla piloted the A-R out of the Hangar.

"It's all we can do Gus!" Her face turned towards me with eyes glaring a fiery trail into mine. "Do you want to die in vain? As much as I hate to admit it, All we can do is trust in Ryan. Whatever he does now is entirely his choice. Whether he's already jumped to his death, or finding a way to bring the piece of shit down, only time will tell," her reasoning stung me hard, causing me to wince away from her serpent-like stare.

"...I understand..." I didn't return my gaze to that general direction until she brought her attention back to piloting.

"Good, now do me a favor..." Kayla almost left her comment hang as she avoided a few oncoming flying machines. "...When we get back... Don't listen to Will 'till he's sobered up, got that?"

"Um... Alright," I soon recalled how awkward the conversation with Will was before Phil and I were called up. Tess glanced at me as if she hasn't heard the words 'Will' and 'sobered up' used in the same sentence, and to be totally honest, I was kind of baffled to see the miniature cocoadile drunk myself. I just shrugged at the pretztail's confusion, letting her know it wasn't her problem.

It was a silent ride home, and in the back of my mind, my imagination wanted to pretend that Ryan was still riding with us. Seeing as he was undetectable to the eye before he left, it wasn't that hard to picture his presence... As long as you didn't notice the unbuckled seat belt straps that sat idly on the seat, it was like he was still in the A-R... Who knows, maybe he still was.

We'd probably be facing dire consequences if he was. Even though I barely knew the Pieena, I still felt horrible that he had to go out like this. It'd be nice to know him a bit more... But seeing as it came to this, I guess it was a good thing I didn't get too attached. "_Good bye, Ryan_," I kept him in my thoughts for the rest of the trip home.

"Looks like we got a problem..." Kayla knew just the right time to break the bad news.

"What is it?" Tess asked as I was still pondering over what she meant by _problem_.

"...Darkspawn are crowding the area, we'll get spotted for sure if we open up the landing hole now..."

"Well..." I started, "how long do we have before our fuel runs out and we _have _ to land?"

"Don't worry... As long as Ryan can finish the job before nightfall, it should buy us enough distraction time to burrow back into the base," Kayla let the A-R hover inches above the ground, keeping it safe from the crisscrossing flying machines above. Eventually, Tess started counting, but I didn't know what for. It took me a few seconds of putting pieces together to realize she was adding up all the flying machines that gathered around in the main screen.

Kayla didn't seem to mind, I mean we didn't have much entertainment down here to past the time till the moment of truth. Though I began to get a bit weary of it all once the pretztail hit triple digits. I was beginning to wonder if I lost my mind once I caught sight of flying machines in the distance falling left and right. Was it really happening?

"...Did that scumbag actually pull through?" Kayla admired the massacre, soon pulling the A-R up and away from the oncoming rain of falling debris of the flying machines.

"...I hope he's okay..." I mumbled out, gripping at my seat once again, hanging on for the wild ride Kayla was about to give.

"Gus! Get on the turrets in the back, you might need to keep the scraps of metal off'a us!" I followed her orders without question, ripping off my seat belt and heading for the rear part of the A-R. Luckily, my weapon of choice wasn't that hard to find. Mounting myself on the seat, I realized the turret functioned just like the one on the G-C, allowing me to skip the task of relearning it all.

I took aim at the flying machines above that were still intact, waiting for the right moment that they would blowout and begin to nose dive. I switched the ammunition to missiles, knowing they would be strong enough to disperse the metal around us, saving us the damage.

"Get ready Gus, It's nearing our tail!" Kayla warned me, making my trigger fingers itch even more. I watched the wave grow closer, making sure to time my shot just right. As the next line of flying machines fell for us, I didn't hesitate to fire off two missiles. No time to check the result, I lunched the next twin batch. The method continued, only pausing three seconds after each missile set took off.

"Tess!" Kayla barked at her, "back up Gus and load up some more ammo!" I took a quick peek at the counter and noticed it was dangerously low.

"On it!" The pretztail launched out of her seat and instantly rushed to my aid, "...Hang in there Gus," Tess cheered me on, loading up the next round swiftly. "There! Already to go!" Despite finishing her task, Tess didn't return to her seat. Instead, she hovered over my shoulder, glancing at my screen. I proceeded to use the same firing pattern again, keeping the mess off of us.

"Almost off the island!" Kayla announced as I could actually see the sky and clouds coming back in again, but we weren't past the disaster just yet. The mallowolf brought the A-R lower, nearly scrapping against the rubble that was once the walls that surrounded the island. The plummeting flying machines above came so close that firing the missiles would be suicide. The rest was up to Kayla... And in that moment of life or death, I knew that if we died, we would die heroes. "Come on...!" The mallowolf growled as I could hear her jamming the levers as far as they would go.

"Ahh!" Tess let out a yell as the A-R took a beating from above, causing both me to spill out of my seat and the pink pretztail to lose her footing. I was able to break her fall by some, saving her the impact of her head meeting with the cold metal plates below. The A-R soon regained it's stability followed by Kayla's victorious battle cry.

"Gus, Tess!" the mallowolf called us over as we helped each other to our feet.

"You alright?" I asked the pretztail, brushing down her ruffed up mache.

"A little disoriented... But I'll be fine," I held her paw as we made our way back to our seats.

"We made it..." Kayla took a long breath in, letting it all out in a great sigh of relief.

"... So are we gonna go back to the base?" I glanced at the screen, seeing that we were still gliding across the ocean. The body of water intimidated me slightly, but knowing that I didn't need to swim through it all calmed my thoughts.

"...Of course!" Kayla gathered herself up, still a bit stupefied from the recent events. Once Tess and I were strapped in, the mallowolf pulled the A-R around, heading straight for home.

"Wow..." Tess inhaled sharply at the result of all the destruction. Our pathway out couldn't even be traced because the metal from the other flying machines had scattered upon colliding with the ground.

"Well isn't that just a work of art?" The mallowolf chuckled at her own joke. I don't think anyone could take their eyes off the monitor.

"You think the bases were affected any?" I asked, wondering if Phil and company were alright.

"I doubt it... Those fortresses are buried deep in the ground. I don't think some petty aircraft crashes are gonna even shake them, trust me," Kayla assured me.

"What do you think happened to Ryan?" I kept on.

"..." The mallowolf took a breath in before answering, "well... By the looks of it, he did his job," It wasn't necessarily a compliment, but it certainly wasn't an insult surprisingly.

"Heh..." I was held speechless after that, my thoughts wrapped around the pieena.

"We gotta give thanks for that at least..." Kayla nodded.

"...I wish he was still here..." I closed my eyes and tried to picture a life where Ryan was still alive.

"Ha, he practically is! He was pretty much a nobody who took up space..." Her comment led to silence. She glanced back at me and saw me holding in most of my sadness. "...I take it back..." The mallowolf sighed, shaking her head. The A-R came to a slow halt as the landing hole opened from below. The rest of the descent was taken in a depressing and awkward silence. Once we landed, Phil greeted us through the A-R with a gleeful tone.

"You guys actually did it!" The fudgehog exclaimed.

"...Most of the credit goes to Ryan..." I corrected him.

"...Yes, it does," Phil answered back, stuck in silence for awhile. "Well we sent out a few scouting parties to take analysis of the battlefield.

"How many?" I asked as the A-R pulled back into the hangar.

"Five... We still have some piñatas stationed here at the base, can't afford to send off everyone just yet."

"I see, what do you expect to find out there anyways?" I unbuckled myself and stood up carefully.

"Well their main task is to eliminate any darkspawn that are still alive, next to that is scavenging any intact parts or sturdy metals they may happen to run into... They might make a few trips back and forth seeing as we can use all that we can get right now,"

"True... What about us? You gonna send us out too?"

"Nah, you guys deserve a break. I'll send you out tomorrow,"

"Sounds like a plan..." I let out an inaudible sigh, "...So who's gonna replace Ryan?"

"Hmm... Why not I let you guys choose? And if you don't come up with someone by tonight, I'll pick 'em out," we discussed it amongst ourselves for about five whole seconds before coming to an agreement.

"Sure," Kayla nodded as the A-R came to a gradual stop. The mallowolf opened the door for us, Tess wasting no time taking off her seat belt. As we departed I noticed that Kayla didn't follow us, I didn't bother going back to see how she was doing, she would probably tell me it's none of my business anyways.

"Nice to see you guys made it out in once piece!" Phil hugged both Tess and me, "I can't say the same about the A-R though..." The fudgehog winced at the damage it took. Not seeing the mess for myself, I turned around to have a look at it myself.

"Heh... I can't believe the A-R sustained that all and still kept going," dents, scratches, and rips had defiled the A-R entriely.

"Might as well call Evan down to help tune it back into shape," Phil dialed random button on his wrist module, boarding the wreck.

"Gus," Tess took my attention away, dragging me by the paw, "we should check out how Kain's doing!"

"Oh yeah... I almost forgot about him..." I chuckled nervously, "where'd you leave him last?" I asked, knowing it'd be crazy to bring an infant onto a mission like that.

"The infirmary, they always offer to look after offspring if the parents are both busy," she smiled as she pulled me into the elevator.

"That's pretty thoughtful of them," I nodded as the doors closed.

"Yup, I just hope they didn't get nicked too badly by his growing spines," The pretztail chucked, the elevator beginning to rise.

"Ha, I'm sure they probably have, I just hope they got some gloves to handle the job," I laughed with her.

"So..." Tess started, "I guess the war's over huh?" She glanced at me shyly.

"...It looks like it, though it wouldn't surprise me if more flying machines came from the skies again," I shook my head. "... Let's just enjoy our break," I exhaled loudly.

"Yeah... Maybe we'll go out and eat after checking up on Kain, I'm starving," Tess rubbed her tummy tenderly.

"Now that you mention it... I could go for a bite or two..." I hadn't had breakfast or lunch, unless you call that glass of apple juice a meal. "...It's a shame they're out of apple juice..." I closed my eyes briefly and shook my head, the pretztail only giggled.

"I'm sure I can find you something else that's just as good," She smiled at me as the elevator stopped in the G-C hangar. The place was practically deserted, only a few G-C's and piñatas occupied the place.

"I thought it was one G-C per search party, I guess everyone had gotten their own G-C to take along," I noticed that the G-C Kayla and I took was still parked here as we walked along.

"Hey Gus!" Evan waved to me as he passed us.

"Oh! Hi Evan!" But before I could wave back, the fudgehog was already headed for the lower hangar, disappearing from sight.

"What are you waiting around for Gus? Come on!" Tess laughed as she tugged me along again, tearing my eyes away from the elevator.

"Heh, sorry," I pulled my paw back, wishing she wouldn't pull me along. Once we got to the lounge, we found the place bare of life as well. "...They must be pretty big search parties," I shrugged as Tess motioned for me to follow her to a door that was nearby.

"This is the infirmary," Tess informed me before opening the door, it was the same door that was locked from before.

"An infirmary close to the lounge... I get it! If someone's insanely drunk like Will, and they fall over and hurt themselves, it saves the nurses the time of carrying them into the infirmary!" I concluded.

"Oh Gus!" Tess giggled again, covering her muzzle with her paws to hide it.

"Hey, I heard that!" Will's voice yelled out as we entered the room, causing me to cringe a bit for unintentionally insulting him.

"Oh boy... You've done it now..." Tess' laughter calmed down as she wagged a joking finger at me.

"I didn't mean to..." I smiled nervously as we began walking down the hallway.

"It's alright... I believe this is the room we're looking for!" Tess knocked a few times before trying the control panel to open the door. The doors parted open as the pretztail poked at the buttons.

"Oh! Tess, you're back!" A gentle feminine voice called out from the room, causing my ears to perk up a bit.

"Yup! How's my little Kain?" Tess walked inside, I had the curiosity to follow her. The caretaker inside was a purple fudgehog, she was cradling the porchipine child in her arms. I could tell by the blanket around Kain and the gloves the fudgehog was wearing that she had troubles with the infant's new quills.

"He's been an angel!" The fudgehog's bright face backed up her words.

"That's wonderful!" the pretztail's bushy tail flailed about upon hearing the good news. The fudgehog handed the porchipine child back to his foster mother for her to hold. "...You wouldn't mind watching him for awhile longer?" Tess asked the fudgehog despite keeping her eyes focused on Kain.

"Oh not at all dear!" The fudgehog smiled as Tess turned towards me, handing me the infant once more.

"Wanna hold him?" The pretztail offered, holding out Kain towards me. His eyes opened, exposing the silvery colors they held.

"...Sure," I wrapped my paws around him, taking a firm hold before Tess let go. It felt a little strange as Kain kept his eyes trained on me, as if he was going to ask me something. But the only thing that came from his mouth was saliva. "...You sure he's not hungry? He's drooling."

"Gus, all babies drool," Tess laughed as well as the fudgehog.

"They do? ...Why?" I wondered as I glanced down at the child again. The fudgehog took over answering.

"They haven't worked out all of their body functions yet. Give Kain some time to grow and learn and you'll see improvement," she said as I wiped some of the saliva away with the blanket.

"Well I don't know about Kain... but I'm pretty hungry myself," I chuckled nervously, handing the child back to the caretaker.

"You ready to eat then?" Tess asked, taking me by the paw again.

"Y-yeah," I adjusted my paw in her grasp as we walked out.

"Don't worry, Kain's in good care!" The fudgehog said as the door shut behind us. We walked through the lounge and up to the bar table, I noticed that Will didn't even bat an eyelid at us.

"You alright Will?" I asked, getting no response. The cocoadile only sat there, staring out into nothing with angry distaste written all over his face... For the first time ever I caught Will express his emotion through facial features.

"Gus..." Tess tapped on my shoulder, drawing my attention back to her as she sat down, "Did you want me to choose you something to eat?"

"...Sure," I took my seat as well, glancing at the cocoadile again for a brief moment.

"You don't eat meat right?" She asked me.

"Hm? Oh, I try not to..." I nodded.

"...And I'll keep the drink a surprise too!" She gave me a sly smile which made me question if she was going to slip me something that I didn't like.

"Okaaay," I replied hesitantly, hoping she wouldn't take advantage of my lack of beverage knowledge. Once the android approached us, Tess whispered to it in the same manner as she did a few days before. It acknowledged her order and left for the back to prepare the meal. I turned to Will, hoping to make conversation again. "Will... I was wondering if you wanted to join our search party..."

"Uh... Gus," Tess tapped my shoulder, but I brushed it off, ignoring her for the moment.

"It's gonna be Me, Tess and Kayla... Did you want to come with us?" I asked, hoping the offer would lift his spirits.

"Gus... Maybe you should-"

"Not now Tess, I wanna know if Will wants to come along," I shooed the pretztail's words away.

"Y'know Gus..." Will started, still sounding like he did this morning, "maybe you should listen to your girl over there and leave a cocoadile to his own business," the cocoadile slowly spoke, overtaken by the alcohol, "Cause _some_ of us have some _falling_ to do!" Will grumbled, nearly wobbling off his seat as he climbed off.

"Uhh..." I was left speechless, watching the drunken cocoadile waddle off to his room, mumbling some sort of gibberish angerly.

"I was gonna tell you..." Tess started, "Will's really sensitive when he's had too much too drink..."

"Eh... Heh, I see that..." I scratched my head, hoping my drunk comment from before didn't sting him _too_ much.

"Well the best you can do now is just let the drinks wear off, I'm sure good 'ol Will'll come around."

"Alright..." I faced myself back towards Tess.

"You know... Will stopped drinking the moment you got here... Or at least _pounding them down_ as he puts it sometimes," it was something I never knew about the Cocoadile... He was a heavy drinker like my father apparently.

"...What caused him to start?" I asked, knowing everyone has their reasons for starting a bad habit.

"Well, The poor guy's been picked on for many different reasons... His size being one of them," my ears adjusted around a bit, tuning in to her story. "He couldn't stand having to adjust to a tall world, especially when others rubbed the fact in his face..." The pretztail took in a long sigh before going on, "he picked up drinking at a surprisingly young age and it just stuck. Eventually, all that alcohol went straight to his head and he ended up making a fool of himself, just making his problems worse than they were before."

"Hmm... Then why'd he stop because of me?" I asked, wondering why I was so important.

"...Beats me, I've only kept an ear out for gossip, that's how I know what I know," Tess shrugged her shoulders. "But what I do know is that he's starting again, so whatever thing that you did, I guess it must have cheesed him off or something."

"What'd I do?" I recoiled defensively.

"I don't know Gus... All I know is Will's got to solve his own problems right now seeing as he's locked himself in his room," Tess closed her eyes shook her head.

"Great... Now I feel bad even more now..." I groaned, folding my arms over the table to make a place for my head to hide.

"...Don't be Gus, Will's just being his drunken-self right now, it's best he sober up before we talk to him again..." The pretztail rubbed my back some.

"How long until he does that?" I still hid my face away.

"About a half-a-day or so," Tess patted my back, "come on Gus, the food's almost done,"

"Fiiine," I brought my head back up to see the robot bartender return with a plate loaded with odds and ends along with one glass filled to the near brim with an orange liquid.

"Here's your meal...Ma'am," the pretztail was presented with her food as it was laid out before her on the table.

"Thank you!" Tess smiled and nodded at the android.

"...I think it forgot my order..." I scanned the plate and glass over.

"Don't be silly Gus," the pretztail laughed as the bartender dropped two straws into the glass. I immediately broke out into a nervous sweat.

"We're sharing?" My eyes widened as I was never used to the activity before. Back on Remtrii is was basically free-for-all when you weren't on the top of the food chain.

"Of course we are!" Tess giggled on.

"Erm... Okay then."

"But first you're trying what's in the glass!" Her lips curled into a smirk, making me question our trust again. "Ooopen!" She snickered as she grabbed the glass and a straw, pointing the skinny tube my way. I followed along slowly, still hesitant over the fact that I've been tricked once around here. My mouth extended slightly around the straw as I began to draw in the liquid slowly.

Once the beverage hit my tongue, I braced myself for the worst. But actually, it was far from that. Taking a large sip, I hummed my delight after swallowing it down. "What _is_ this stuff?" My lips smacked together a bit, taking more of the taste in.

"Orange juice," she smiled, her eyes eating up the look on my face.

"It's... Tangy," I leaned in for another sip, working my lips around the straw.

"Geez Gus, settle down!" She said as I sucked down another gulp.

"...Don't tell me this is the last of the orange juice is it?" I wiped my mouth with the back of my paw.

"Well it's scarce, but not many piñatas here are avid fans of fruit drinks, so there's still plenty until next shipment arrives," Tess took a sip of the juice on her end.

"Okay... So what do other piñatas usually drink around here?"

"...Ugh, artificially flavored sodas..." She cringed at the words.

"Art-...Artificial? What do you mean?" I dug deeper.

"You don't want to know. Especially what they put in it," Tess gagged at the thought of it, a clear warning sign not to press any further into the matter.

"Alright... So what's on the plate?" I registered the meal as two sandwiches, filled with meaty patties squished between a variety of vegetables, the buns looked pretty fancy too.

"Veggie burgers," the pink pretztail stuck her tongue out at me.

"Veggie burgers?" I recited, confused about the name.

"Yeah... Burgers for vegetarians!" She blushed in a slight embarrassment, "I think you might like it from what you said about eating meat those few days ago."

"Oh! … That's thoughtful of you!" I smiled, grasping the sandwich in both paws, bringing it up to my face. Peeking over the burger, I caught Tess awaiting the moment for my teeth to bite into it. I took a breath in, taking a decent portion off of the burger in a decent chomp. As I chewed it over, my tongue rolled over the chunks, taking in the flavor.

"So..." the pretztail leaned closer, "What'cha think?" I swallowed before answering.

"Not bad... But not the best thing I tasted," I chuckled, knowing that the flavor of apple juice was going to be hard to beat.

"Awwh," Tess whined jokingly, taking hold of her own sandwich. I finished mine up in a few bites, remembering how hungry I was. Wiping my mouth off again, I began to watch Tess delicately take nibbles of her burger. "Oh come on... I can't eat with you watching me..." The pretztail blushed, hiding her face behind her food.

"Oh, sorry!" I faced my back towards her, my cheeks flushed as well.

"Gus... You don't need to turn away! I just don't want'cha watching me," she giggled, tapping my shoulder.

"Okay..." I twisted myself towards the bar table as Tess took a sip of the orange juice. My eyes eventually found their way over to the juice, the sight alone enticed me into another gulp. Once Tess placed the glass back down, I nabbed it up and slurped at least half of it down.

"Save some for me!" Tess had to pull the glass away.

"Heh heh... Sorry," I mentally kicked myself in the ass for indulging a little _too_ much.

"Here, I'll get you your own glass, how about that?" The pretztail smiled, calling over the robotic bartender. I sat there idly as she requested another tall glass of the tangy stuff. Waiting patiently, I occasionally glanced over at Tess' orange juice, controlling the urge to suck the glass dry. My lips were watering once the android got back with my glass.

"Thanks!" I spoke my gratitude before chugging the whole glass down.

"Geez Gus, don't drown yourself now," Tess joked as she admired my talent.

"I can't help it... Despite it's tangy flavor, I somehow want more..." I licked my lips, setting the empty container back down on the counter.

"That's orange juice for ya..." the pretztail giggled before taking the last bites of her burger.

"...Anyways, I'm gonna take a shower, I'll meet you in the bunk room then right?"

"Yeah, I just wanna check up on Kain first before I go to bed, alright?" Tess pulled a napkin off the counter, wiping her paws clean with it.

"Sure, take your time if you want... I'll keep the bed warm for ya," I nodded, soon proceeding up the stairs, waving farewell to the pink pretztail.

Luckily, the shower wasn't occupied this time. It was easy in, easy out, all clean and ready to enjoy a simple, relaxing slumber. "_Looks like I beat her to bed..._" I thought to myself, seeing only sheets and pillows on the bed. Well it at least gave me the opportunity to get comfortable first before Tess slipped into bed.

However, before I drifted off, I picked up Will's voice again, coming from the main room. The cocoadile's voice was less sloppy with his speech, I assumed he sobered up a bit.

"Uh, Sir... You wanted to see me?" Will spoke slowly.

"Yes..." Phil's voice answered back, "I don't know if Gus or his friends asked you yet, but were you interested in going out in a search party with them?"

"Gus asked me before... But I was being pretty rude to him..." The cocoadile chose his words carefully.

"Rude? To Gus? How so?" I imagined the fudgehog crossing his arms, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, he made a mean comment to me earlier and I got offensive, but it opened my eyes eventually. Phil... I need to you to help me break my drinking habits..."

"I thought that was the case. Though there's not that much I _can_ do. I might be able to get someone to program the bartender to refuse you your fix, but I can't stop the other piñatas from offering it to you," I pictured Phil shrugging his shoulders.

"You're right. Maybe some fresh air'll do me some good, sign me up," Will agreed.

"Great. Well then, you better get some sleep, your G-C leaves early tomorrow,"

"Mmmhmm," silence poured in soon after, allowing me to sleep.


	9. DAY 6: Darkspawn's END

**DAY 6: Darkspawn's END**

The sound of Phil's voice broke me from my sleep.

"Time to wake up Gus... You too Tess," I felt the sleeping pretztail's arms wrapped around me.

"...Already?" I yawned, stretching out my limbs as Tess loosened her grip.

"Yep, Kayla and I packed the G-C up for ya, so all that's left is to get you kids going."

"Don't call us kids!" Tess interjected, "we're practically adults!"

"Heh, but I'm the older one in this conversation," Phil laughed a little, giving us both a hand out of bed.

"Whatever..." Tess rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, we should get going, you can wake up on the way there," the fudgehog tugged us both by the arms briefly to get our legs moving. Tess and I groaned, feeling like it should be a crime to wake up this early. Once we finished our descent down the stairs, Phil knocked on the cocoadile's door. There wasn't any answer. After trying a locked knob, Phil fished out the master key and forced his way in, giving the Cocoadile a personal wake up call... Or a few wake up slaps to be exact.

"Aaah! I'm up, I'm up!" Will hollered from his room, causing a racket as he flailed about in his bed.

"I told you you'd need your rest," Phil dragged the weary piñata out of bed.

"Yeah, and I wasn't done restin'," The cocoadile complained, eventually complying with orders.

"You can rest some more in the G-C, how about that? During that time you can think over your life some more, you did say you needed some fresh air to help you," Those words alone snapped the cocoadile into action.

"Yeah-yeah, I'll get to it," Will marched out of his room, Tess and I trailing right behind him.

"Good morning Will!" The pretztail called out, taking the small piñata by surprise.

"Huh?" The cocoadile turned around, spotting us instantly. "Oh... Hi guys..." He let out a short yawn.

"Gus!" Phil gestured me to come over. I left the two piñatas without any warning.

"What is it sir?" I asked the fudgehog once I approached him.

"I overheard everything spoken yesterday when you guys were in the A-R..." Phil hesitated a bit, making me question if I was in any trouble.

"You did? ...I didn't say anything bad, did I?" I braced myself.

"No-no, not at all Gus! ...It's just, You're the only one that seemed to give a care about Ryan back there... I thought you might wanna see this..." Phil started upstairs, his arm motioning for me to follow. I was relieved about the assumed trouble, but that didn't settle my restless thoughts at all.

"What do you want to show me?" I dug in as we reached the main room.

"I... I had Evan place a camera into the helmet of Ryan's UV-reflective suit," the fudgehog spoke slowly as we stepped inside to his room. "I've got the recordings of what took place during the mission..." He slipped a slim disk into a sleek black box.

"Oh? So you know where Ryan is!" My hopes of finding the pieena grew.

"...Yes, but let me tell you... You might not like what you see..." The fudgehog closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Huh? What do you mean? ...He's alive at least, right?" I didn't like where this was going.

"...No..." he swung his head slowly again.

"...Show me the recording," I sat down on the fudgehog's recliner, my eyes fixated on the monitor that hung on the wall.

"Don't say I didn't warn ya..." Phil let out a distraught sigh as he got the video ready. The fudgehog backed away once the screen began to play the recording, taking a seat on the other recliner besides me. We began to watch, the video playing exactly what Ryan saw when he first put on the helmet. The fudgehog skipped over to where Ryan split from us later on.

The pieena ran towards the double sliding doors, entering them once they pulled apart. The halls inside were vacant, I assumed that everyone was at their battle stations, causing havoc for the world below. This gave Ryan an easy break. It looked like a cake walk as the pieena traveled through the steel tunnels, however his heavy breaths persuaded me otherwise. It seemed like a dead end once the pieena made it to a door that didn't budge to Ryan's presence.

"Hopefully the code from before works..." His words caught me off guard, but then I remembered that he was a darkspawn, so he had obviously been in the flying machine before joining END. The pieena began to type on a nearby control panel, his breath even more shook up as he keyed them in. The control panel buzzed, indicating a wrong code.

"Damn... Now what? What would the code be now?" But before Ryan could even try again, sirens blared throughout the hall.

"Shit!" Ryan cussed, turning around to spot two darkspawn soldiers coming his way, guns ablaze. Ryan fell forward to the ground, as if he'd been shot in the stomach, but his head bounced on the floor as if it was severed from his body. The scene started making less sense as it went on. One of the two darkspawn stopped in front of the helmet and gazed at it before firing a few shots into it, cutting off the communications.

"...And that's all we got of it," Phil said, standing up.

"Wait-wait-wait, can you replay it again, from when Ryan got shot... But slower."

"Gus...-"

"No, just do it," I urged him to as the fudgehog took his seat again, rewinding the video to the desired place. Phil sighed as he played it frame by frame. "See, see there," I pointed when I saw the helmet rise up slightly, "he took off his helmet," a few more frames went by, showing the helmet falling, "and threw it down, explaining the unusual bounce it had!"

"Gus... Don't-" Phil was about to stop it again.

"No, keep it going!" My eyes were locked on the screen. "...You see that darkspawn that's still running? It obviously knows that Ryan's still out there, he had to get through that door somehow! If not, then explain how he brought all the flying machines down!"

"Gus... We don't know if Ryan was the one who brought them down or not," the fudgehog stopped the video and retrieved the disk.

"I say he did... If not him, than who?" Phil kept silent, knowing I had a point.

"...Briefing will be down in the hangar, don't take _too_ long," the fudgehog showed himself out as I chewed over what I just viewed of Ryan's life. I pondered how he might have escaped the darkspawn, or if he even did. Still, after what I just witnessed, I believed the pieena was capable of anything. I left the room with a small sigh, keeping the pieena in my thoughts. The whole base was unusually quiet as I made my way to the hangar, the slience was almost frightening.

As I entered the hangar, all but one of the G-C's were gone. It was the same one that Kayla and I used for the delivery mission. And guess who was going to be driving it again? Kayla. Will was already inside the G-C, catching up on his sleep. Tess was the only one outside that was waiting for me eagerly.

"Gus!" Tess ran up and almost tackled me down with a hug, "...I almost thought that you weren't gonna show up!" She released me, letting me breathe again.

"It's not that, I was watching... a video with Phil, that's all." I didn't bother to go into detail.

"Oh... What was it about?" Tess asked.

"...Nothing important, nothing at all," I shook my head, not wanting to discuss it, seeing as it was for my eyes only.

"Well... Okay," Tess glanced away, feeling awkward for asking in the first place.

"...Is Phil here?" I asked the pretztail, but before she could answer, the fudgehog himself did, giving me a pat on the back.

"He sure is," he said with a laugh or two.

"Oh! I'm here for briefing sir," I replied, a little shocked from his surprise greeting.

"Great!" The fudgehog's voice became louder, "Now listen up everyone, it's best if you hear what I have to say!" he stood at the grill of the G-C, looking Kayla right in the eye. The mallowolf took action immediately, hopping out of the vehicle to give Phil her full attention.

"Reporting sir," the mallowolf rolled her eyes, as if she heard his ranting banter before.

"Where's Will?" The fudgehog asked.

"Sleeping," Kayla replied, "I'd be more than happy to wake him up," she smirked.

"No-no, you can inform him later then," Phil knew if Kayla were to use her methods on Will, the results wouldn't be pretty.

"Fiiine," The mallowolf crossed her arms.

"Anyways, we've got an update on the weapons the darkspawn are using now."

"...How long was it since the last update?" Tess asked.

"A week or so ago, but it seems like the darkspawn have armed themselves to the teeth for this fight, the weapons they're using are completely different from the one's we've archived," I spoke up after Phil had finished.

"But aren't the darkspawn all dead? We've seen every flying machine of theirs fall," I wondered.

"Yes, they did fall, however there's still some darkspawn in the mother-ship that survived the impact," the fudgehog answered. "Apparently our troops are having a hard time dealing with them."

"Just cut to the chase," Kayla butted in, "what are we dealing with exactly?"

"About that... Well the first weapon that was reported was described to be a laser rifle that could shoot a continuous red beam capable of piercing though any material minus what their spacecraft was made of."

"It must run on some pretty powerful stuff if laser rifles can do _that_," Kayla was slightly amazed.

"Well the plus side for us is that their laser rifles overheat easily and takes around a minute to recharge, but when they're cooling down, they have a back-up weapon."

"Aaaand?" Kayla motioned for the fudgehog to finish.

"Well, there's nothing unusual about the other combat rifle they use, it's the ammo they load into it."

"The ammo?" I repeated, slightly perplexed.

"Uh-huh, reports received explain that piñatas have had limbs, or their whole body explode for absolutely no reason. A little investigating revealed that the bullets the darkspawn used were behind it. You could call those bullets mini grenades if that'd sound better," Phil shrugged.

"Ouch..." I winced, picturing the scene happening in my mind.

"We've tried using their own weapons against them, however their suits prove to be quite a match for the firepower and the only weapons that seem to have an effect are our explosives... In fact, many END CO's have been thinking of just bombing the whole area. There's about twenty-four hours left for us to gather what we can from the mother-ship to study before we destroy it for good."

"Hmm," I thought about why it would be so important to study them rather than just get rid of them for good.

"The good news for you guys is that Evan took the time to make custom fit darkspawn suits for each one of you! Well... Except for Will, you'll have to keep him inside the G-C when you all enter the mother-ship."

"I don't think Will'll mind that," Kayla rolled her eyes again.

"Where are the suits anyways?" I asked the fudgehog.

"They're in the trunk packed in crates, each labeled with your name on them, they're hard to miss," Phil laughed a bit.

"So let's get this straight, you want us to go scavenging around inside the spacecraft?" Kayla stated.

"Yep," the fudgehog nodded, "so if you guys wanna get ready, I'll meet you over by the lift when you're all suited up," he began walking away. I started for the trunk, letting the mallowolf open it seeing as Tess and I were too short to reach the switch to open it.

"Hmm, this one's Tess'," Kayla pulled out one wooden box, dropping it on the floor in front of the pink pretztail. "Gus..." I stepped back a bit, giving the box some room to land. "Aaand mine," Tess had already tore into the box and started gearing up. The second I glanced back to Kayla, she was doing the same thing.

Not wanting to get behind, I pried open the box and got dressed as well. Once we were all suited up, we entered into the G-C, Kayla and I took the front which left Tess to look after the sleeping cocoadile. The setting felt oddly similar to my dream, except for the fact that we're still in the war. Phil waved in Kayla as she brought the G-C slowly onto the elevator. Tess and I waved our goodbyes to the fudgehog as we ascended back up into the destruction.

The ascension was taken in silence as I watched the light from above grow larger. The elevator halted once we hit ground level. The massacre of yesterday was still laid out across the land. My eyes caught a few piñatas, END and non-END alike, salvaging through the chunks of busted up metal.

"I might not know why we need to investigate some crappy spacecraft..." Kayla began, "but I know there's gonna be one hell of a clean-up crew once this bull's over with," the mallowolf chuckled a bit, pressing slightly harder on the gas pedal.

"Huh, wha-?" Will muttered loudly as a few rough bumps woke him up.

"Good morning sleepyhead," Tess giggled, enjoying the cocoadile's reaction.

"What'd I miss?" Will wiped the dust from his eyes, letting out a short yawn.

"Nothing much," Kayla replied, "you'll be keeping watch though we we're out,"

"Huh? What for?" Will scratched the back of his head.

"To make sure our G-C doesn't get hijacked," the mallowolf grumbled.

"Oh... Alright," The cocoadile laid his head back down on the armrest as we became silent once again. It was quite a drive before we could even _see_ our destination. I still gawked at the flying machine as if it was the first time I had laid eyes on it. It began to grow dramatically as we closed in on the massive heap of metal.

"Looks like we're not the only one's here to party," Kayla mumbled as we saw a group of END soldiers gathered around a blasted hole in the flying machine. "And I don't think our fellow END soldiers would like it if we crashed the party with our darkspawn getup." I could only imagine the outcome if we did show our faces to them like this.

"So what are we gonna do then?" I asked as we cruised by the END scouting crew.

"We'll find our own entrance, or make one if we have to," the mallowolf seemed to have everything planned out. We made our way through a few search parties and stand-offs before finding an unclaimed spot to park and mark out new territory. "Tess, wake up Will, we're gonna get ready to leave the G-C... And give him an energy drink, we can't afford to have him fall asleep on guard duty," Kayla ordered.

"Yes ma'am," the pink pretztail addressed her superior, following her orders to the very letter. However Will didn't take to kindly to the wake up call. The two found themselves in a heated argument, luckly Kayla's irrational thinking came in handy as she threw an energy drink bottle at the cocoadile's head to quiet his mouth.

"Tch... Whatever, she started it..." Will mumbled, climbing into the front seats as Kayla and I hopped out. The mallowolf made sure that the cocoadile drank what was in the bottle before she gave us the okay to head out. Tess was the first to open her mouth once we approached the gaping hole.

"So what are we looking for exactly?" Tess and I watched the mallowolf enter the flying machine carefully, soon activating the cloaking device.

"Anything that could prove useful for understanding the darkspawn better," Kayla's voice echoed in my helmet.

"Alright," the pink pretztail was the next to go, soon disappearing from sight as well.

"Wait up guys!" I called out, crawling desperately through the hole in fear of being left behind. The dull interior lighting flickered on and off, most likely working off a damaged power source.

"Gus!" Kayla called out as I felt either her or Tess, pull me all the way in, "turn your cloaking on!" However that was easier said than done.

"How do I do that?" I asked, bracing myself for the same answer Kayla gave to Ryan.

"It's simple, the helmet reads your mind. All there is to it is to think up an action and let it take care of the rest... Just don't expect it to do much beyond camouflaging your ass..." The mallowolf flaunted her sarcasm. I took a moment to clear my mind to focus on making myself invisible. It took a few seconds for the helmet to register my thoughts, but in the end I could feel the cloaking system take effect. The dark tinted screen protecting my face soon displayed outlined silhouettes of Tess and Kayla, showing me that they weren't that far away.

"I think I got it," I announced, hearing my own voice even more now.

"Good for you," Kayla gave me a dry compliment, "now let's get going, we've only got a handful of hours and who knows where the darkspawn could be hiding," the mallowolf began walking down the hall with Tess following right behind, I wasted no time picking up their trail.

"Umm..." The pink pretztail started, "I don't mean to put a damper on anything buuut... Why didn't we bring any weapons along?" She did have a point.

"Hey, I'm not stopping you from giving yourself away. If you wanna show everyone here a floating firearm, that's fine by me," Kayla's advice wasn't the most consoling, but it did answer the question.

"I see..." Tess went quiet after that. It wasn't until we hit a fork in our path that she spoke up again. "What do we do now?" She gawked equally between the stairs and the endless hallway.

"Why not split up?" The mallowolf suggested.

"S-split up?" The pretztail hesitated, wondering if it was really a safe idea.

"Sure, there's not much trouble we can get in as long as we stay camouflaged, and if more than one darkspawn comes across you, just play it by ear."

"O-okay..." Tess nodded.

"Gus, take Tess with you upstairs, I'll stick to the ground floor." Kayla ordered.

"You sure you can handle yourself?" I asked.

"Are you forgetting who you're talking to?" The mallowolf grumbled as she ventured onwards, leaving me with the pretztail. "Just don't do anything stupid while I'm gone," her voice rang in my helmet, reminding me that distance didn't affect our communications.

"...I'll do my best to keep my nose out of trouble," I chuckled, knowing I couldn't promise the safety of my being standing in darkspawn territory. Taking a breath in, I held it as I silently took the stairs, preparing myself for whatever could be on the next floor. Tess stuck right behind me, almost knocking me over as I stopped at the final step, checking through the dimmed atmosphere for any signs of life.

"My god..." Kayla's voice took me off guard, nearly causing me to knock the pretztail down the stairs.

"W-what is it?" I asked, seeing as her tone didn't sound that good at all.

"This mangled horstachio looks like it took more than it's fair share of bullets... And by his trail of blood, he must've dragged himself out of this room," the mallowolf spoke slowly.

"Be careful..." I began walking down the new hall, away from the stairs.

"No need to tell me twice... But before I go in, I'm turning off my communicator. I don't want you coming after me if there's trouble, got it?"

"Kayla, no!" I cried out, hoping the mallowolf would hear me out.

"Listen to me Gus, the helmet shows you a map of the spacecraft and our locations inside. Don't hesitate to go back to the G-C if things look ugly," Kayla attempted to change the subject.

"But what about you?" I wasn't going to let her go so easily.

"Look... I need to investigate this on my own... Truth be told, this horstachio was an acquaintance of your father... I... I just hope it's not what I think it is..." Her communicator clicked out... For good. Once her voice was out of my head, I realized that I was still walking. However, the mallowolf's advice stuck in my head reminding me about the built in map.

Clearing my thoughts again, I brought up the map of the flying machine. Glancing over the location of each of us, I confirmed that Kayla was taking care of her own business as Tess kept strangely close to me, probably just scared of her own shadow.

I kept a closer eye on the map rather than my own two feet, so close that I didn't realize Tess was missing until two giant sliding doors cut off my exit, forcing me to keep going forward.

"Tess?" I called out for her, the map showing me she was still right behind me, but she was nowhere to be seen. It took a few seconds of detective work to realize that the map only kept track of her helmet, which was mysteriously placed over my tail. There was no way to get a hold of Kayla to inform her of the pretztail's disappearance... I was left alone.

Removing Tess' helmet off of my tail, I slowly progressed onwards. During that time, I pondered over why Tess would leave without a word. "_I don't think she'd leave without saying something... And besides, wasn't Tess the one _apprehensive _about splitting up in the first place_?" This didn't add up one bit. I came to the conclusion that Tess was kidnapped... But there wasn't anything I could do about it now.

I resorted back to my map, to see if Kayla was still existent inside the flying machine. "Seriously?" I mumbled to myself, seeing that she was still in the same room as before. Either she was turning every stone in that room or taking a nap... Or ran into the darkspawn...

I shook away the thoughts and pressed forward. It was vital to keep my mind clear and ready for anything, I didn't want to meet the same fate that Tess had... Whatever it was. My steps were silent and stealthy, maybe whatever got Tess would have lost track of me, allowing me a few seconds head start... but the thought of the door that blocked my exit persuaded me to believe another theory... Maybe I was being watched.

With the new idea lodge in my head, my eyes kept themselves peeled for anything out of the norm, such as a camera or some kind of recording device. In all those thoughts of technology, my mind came across the wrist module I was still wearing, it would be guaranteed to contact the others without the need for the darkspawn helmets.

I stopped in my tracks, taking off the arm of the suit that hid my module. Once my arm was free, I wasted no time dialing Tess, hoping that she would answer. The module tried to make contact, but after a few seconds, the line cut off, saying no such contact existed... This wasn't turning out well at all. Fortunately, I was still able to use my module to reach Kayla, and I didn't think twice about doing that.

"...I thought I told you-" The mallowolf grumbled once she received my call.

"Tess is missing!" I cut her off, informing her of the situation.

"Huh, wasn't she with you? Check your map!"

"I saw it for myself that she's missing, her helmet was left on my tail and now I have no clue where she could be!" I forced my point through.

"...Wait, her helmet was on your tail?" She spoke as if I was crazy. But before I could verbally go on, an unexpected visitor walked out from one of the nearby side rooms. "Gus... Gus are you there?" The mallowolf's voice called out as I was left speechless from the sight. I had to take my helmet off just to make sure it wasn't my imagination fooling with me.

The shady stranger turned out to be Tess... Or at least what looked like her. As expected, her helmet wasn't anywhere to be seen on her head, but what was the most notable feature that caught my eye was her dilated eyes and her sinister smirk... It was very un-Tess-like.

"A-are you okay?" I asked, hoping she was just playing around... Though there was no verbal response. Instead she grasped a firm paw onto my module, cutting off the call. "Tess!" I shouted as she pulled me along. Every few steps the pretztail glanced back with that same twisted look, sending chills up my spine. I knew deep down that this wasn't Tess at all.

I tried to fight against her grip, but surprisingly, her strength proved to overpower mine. "Let go!" ...Still no response. "Come on Tess, stop it! ...Y-your scaring me!" Not even my fear could faze through to her. The only thing I could do now is prepare myself for whatever she had in mind. Eventually Tess led me into another room, at least this room was better lit than the halls.

After she shoved me inside, the pretztail had the nerve to close and lock the door behind me. "Let me out!" I pounded my paws against the dense metal, hoping my call would be heard by someone.

"...What are you doing here?" An older, masculine voice caught me off guard. His question reminding me that I wasn't invisible anymore. Turning around, I caught a near reflection of myself hanging upon shackles at the other end of the long room. The pretztail who caught my attention was slightly more aged than me, not to mention he was malnourished and showed signs of being physically abused.

"...Who are you?" I approached him cautiously, for all I knew, he could be part of another twisted darkspawn trick.

"...Does that really... matter right now? ...Let me get a... better look at you," his voice groaned as he squinted his eyes at me. His hasty tone made me a bit hesitant, but I took slow steps towards him anyways.

"Y-yes?" I spoke, just inches away from the pretztail.

"Gus... Is that you?" The aged pretztail's knowledge took me off guard.

"...H-how do you know my name?" I asked, wondering how it was possible he knew me from before.

"I've been watching you... With the darkspawn," he took his breaths in raspy heaves.

"With the darkspawn? You mean you're working with them?" I questioned further.

"Yes... And no... It's a long story... And there's not much time left," the pretztail entered a coughing fit.

"Of course their isn't..." I kept my voice low, "this flying machine's gonna be blown in a matter of hours... Here, let me help you," I attempted to free him from his chains, only to have him flail slightly.

"No! ...I mean there's not... Much time for me," his eyes grew more lifeless.

"Huh, what do you mean?" I surveyed his body carefully, reminding myself he was in bad shape.

"Gus... I don't want to leave... Without telling you...The truth that... I'm your father," the pretztail wheezed, clearly out of breath.

"F-father?" I recited as Kayla's words echoed inside my head, commenting on how I was nearly identical to my father.

"Yes Gus... I know it might be... Hard to believe bu-"

"No, I do believe you!" I interjected.

"...You do?" Tears welled up in the pretztail's eyes.

"Yes, Kayla told me about you!" I added.

"Kayla? ...Is she... Still mad at me?" He turned his head away, afraid of facing the answer.

"No... Not at all, in fact... She misses you," I admitted.

"She... Misses me?" I nodded, confirming it as the pretztail couldn't hold back the tears anymore. "I... I don't know what to say..." He started to fall into unconsciousness.

"No-no, stay with me- Please! There's so much I want to ask you!" I tapped his cheeks with a paw to keep him awake, but it was all in vain. Thankfully, he was still breathing, still showing signs of life. My arms wrapped around the pretztail, holding him tight. The problem was that I didn't want to let go until he woke up.

Unfortunately, I had a needle jammed into the back of my shoulder, instantly rendering my entire body numb. As I fell to the ground, my eyes couldn't move, but I could clearly see my captor hunched over me. A lone jameleon of dark neon-like colors.

"What a grand reunion huh?" his voice resembled the same one that was on the broadcast message that was aired yesterday, "too bad it had to be cut short," I tried to fight the numbness, but I was too helpless to do anything. "But by the looks of it, it seems like you don't mind do you?" The jameleon's eyes kept glancing about in two different directions, but one eye was always kept on me. "...Take him with us," The jameleon stood up and spoke to someone who I couldn't see.

I felt weightless as a large sour profitamole threw me across his back. As we exited the room I tried to glance at my father, but the image was too blurred to actually pick out his image. The jameleon came back into view, snickering openly about something.

"You know, you father wasn't one of the most loyal in our ranks," the lizard pinata spoke.

"_...So he _was_ working with the darkspawn_..._but why_?" I thought to myself seeing as it was one of the few things that I could do.

"We've had... A few problems with his behavior in the past, but as you can see we won't have a problem with that anymore," the jameleon snickered again.

"_I knew he wouldn't be one hundred percent behind them... When did he rebel? And more importantly, when did he join? If fact, Kayla said he was in the END... So he couldn't have joined until after he left her and the END_."

"The trouble with double agents... If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be in this situation," he scowled.

"_A double agent... If I got this right, then he must have been working with the END all along_,"

"But I guess your father had a few issues with carrying out a simple order," the jameleon paused for a second, "You see... We had two disobedient darkspawns who were developing a project under my nose." his eyes glared into mine, making me want to glance away.

"_This doesn't sound good... But disobedient Darkspawns_? _So... Ryan wouldn't be the only one then..._" I chewed on the recent idea.

"Both had reached a breakthrough in their research... They constructed the first darkspawn to possess the body of a dead piñata. This darkspawn prototype would take shelter in a host, and in turn the host would be able to live it's life once more." It almost sounded as if the jameleon was praising their achievement. "Unfortunately, they released their project out into the unknown as well as disposed of their notes when we finally caught on... There was no way we would be able to duplicate their product."

"_I guess their _project_ is still out there... As for the two darkspawn, I can only guess what their fate was._"

"Years later, we were able to trace the project to a certain piñata, we've sent out your father to dispose of the project by any means necessary. However failed to do so in the allotted time we gave him due to reasons he won't explain."

"_Maybe this was the depression Kayla was talking about, before my father did leave_..."

"When the time expired, darkspawn grunts tracked him down and dragged him back, apparently he put up quite a struggle. A few years later and it leads us to where we are now-"

"Drop him!" I heard Kayla's voice call from deeper down the hall. The jameleon turned around to get a good laser blast in the face. The shot had dispersed his head into multiple tiny particles before the damaged reversed, the head reassembling itself again, as if nothing happened.

"You have a lot of nerve to be... Gah!" The jameleon was stunned from the sight as I was dropped to the ground. The profitamole ran to the jameleon's aid as my head shifted away from the scene, still unable to control any of my body movements.

"Step away from the pretztail..." Kayla warned as I heard something click.

"You should be the one backing away," the jameleon growled, "unless you _want_ me to put a permanent end to Gus here," he gave a sinister chuckle.

"Don't you dare!" Kayla shouted.

"Sour! Administer the poison and show this mallowolf we don't fool around!" The jameleon commanded. Without another word the sour profitamole came back, raising my head only to stab another need into me. As it plunged into my neck, I could only sit there as my mind screamed with all the foreign liquid being pushed through. Kayla let out a terrifying war-cry as she made quick work of the sour, soon rushing to my side.

"Gus! Gus!" She yanked out the half empty syringe, wasting no time trying to shake the life back into me. Not only did I notice the tears forming in her eyes but she had also discarded her darkspawn armor before confronting the jameleon, leaving herself more vulnerable.

"It's already too late," The jameleon hissed, pulling the mallowolf away with his claws.

"Get away from me!" Kayla grunted as she shoved him away. The mallowolf stood up to confront her enemy for what he had done.

"Give it up, it's already too late." The jameleon countered as many other darkspawns ran to back him up, each one unarmored and bearing a firearm.

"I'll die before I give up," Kayla rearmed herself, showing no mercy as she shot at whoever was standing. However the darkspawn proved to be too strong as they ended Kayla's life with a barrage of laser-fire. She staggered a bit before falling onto my lap. the impact made my head drop down, forcing me to look into her dead eyes.

There was nothing I could do, I couldn't even cry... I swear the shock alone caused me to black out.


	10. EPILOGUE AKA: The END

**DAY 7: Epilogue, AKA: The END**

The next few days were hell... The first day after the search, I came back to my senses in Kayla's bed, back at the base. I was informed that they were able to save me just in time, but the bad news greatly outweighed the good. The first bad piece of news was that Kayla was far beyond rescue. Second piece turned out to be that when a squad of END soldiers came to reclaim my father, he died during the trip back, it seems that the darkspawn had him wired up to a specialized support system that the END had no idea about beforehand.

Both of their funerals were held on the same day. Seeing as it was on the day I awakened from my brief coma, I was in no condition nor mood to go. Instead, I took the time to grieve in privacy while everyone went to pay their respect. However there was still more bad news to be heard, Tess and Ryan were no where to be found, and to make matters worse, the flying machine was blown up the next day as according to plan. I could only hope that both of them had evacuated in time.

Will occasionally popped in each day, just to keep me company. On the first day of my awakening, he gave me a tattered notebook filled with loads of notes, saying that it was found in the giant flying machine and that it might hold some sort of interest to me. The cocoadile also claimed that he nor the others had peeked in it. I was in no shape to stress myself with reading it so I saved the notebook for another day. Once I had the strength to look into it, I found out that it was my father's journal...

The first few entries weren't all that interesting until it started mentioning Kayla. It was that moment I had to put the journal down and chew on what I've learned that day: Kayla was the darkspawn's project... Or the project's hosts to be more exact. I talked to Will and Phil about it the next day, both had no idea about the fact. After they left, I plunged back into the journal... The new contents inside dragged out my emotional side.

I was able to understand my father's depression as well as his disobedience to the darkspawn, I kept the information to myself, seeing as it was uncomfortable for me to talk about it. But that didn't mean I kept the journal hidden. Will looked at the journal whenever conversation had died. The cocoadile never got much out of it apparently.

The next day was the most mind blowing. Phil had came down to my room bearing a mallowolf child. He said he had found her in one of the GC's and no one had a clue about how she got there. The fudgehog suggested that I should take her in, adding that she would make a nice sister for Kain. However I was in no shape to take care of her, let alone Kain, so we placed her in the infirmary's care until I was able to look after them both myself. Though it would be a shame for the two to grow up without a mother-figure in their life.

Even with some of my questions answered, there were still others to figure out. I needed to confirm the lives of both Tess and Ryan as well as find out where the mallowolf pup came from. But for now, I needed my rest. I'd let the children visit me at least once a day, and boy did they get along. I had named the mallowolf after my mother for the pup's rambunctious behavior. Kayla and Kain seemed like the perfect siblings, I couldn't wait to see them grow up.


End file.
